The Wings of Life
by ZeromusTrueSelf
Summary: Doesn't matter if you call them Ren Amamiya and Makoto Niijima, or Joker and Queen, it doesn't change the fact that at the end of the day, they're just two overworked teens with problems, issues, stress and most importantly, hormones, lot and lots of hormones. A series of mostly un-linked short stories about their incomparable relationship.
1. Hair

_Edit: May 16: I've decided to change the name of this fic from "Full Deck" to "The Wings of Life" as I found out there's already a similar fic about Ren/Makoto one-shots out there called "A Deck of Cards" and while this **was **a coincidence, I don't want this to be seen as plagiarism since the titles and concept of the fics are similar so I decided to make the change_

* * *

"Do you think I should grow out my hair?"

"What? God no"

_Oh no, shoot it down faster..._

"Why?" She asked, pacing around the dusty attic where he lived, a finger twiddling the back of her hair

"I like your hair" Was his simple response as he looked up from the book he was reading "I don't know why'd you want to change it"

"Well..." She hummed as she began approaching the bed he was sat down on "I just thought a change might not be so bad"

And then she creaked her head to him and asked the question that would unload the can of worms

"What about you?"

"What _about _me?"

"Well..." She sighed as she reached over and placed her hand on the black shaggy mop he called his hair "You could do with a trim"

The black abyss that was his hair had completely consumed her hand, it was tangled in there like a fly in a spider-web. Her solution was to slowly glide her hand to the back of his head to gently ease it out, in the process pulling his hair back, electing a slight grimace from him as his hair was yanked back, exposing his forehead

Now see here, it was perfectly okay to find a certain _part_ of your partner attractive, maybe their muscles, sculpted jaw, the shape of their nose, or their butt, that was his favorite part of her after all...

But for Makoto Niijima, her weakness was Ren Amamiya's forehead

There was just something about being able to see his eyebrows and how the light bounced off his skin that just made him _so goddamn gorgeous_

"Maybe you should slick it back..."

"I like my hair" He sighed, easing his Queen's hand out of his hair

"That makes one of us" She groaned, planting her behind on the mattress

"Look..." Ren grunted as he placed the book down, and leaned over to her, looking directly into her deep crimson eyes "Don't hate me for saying this, buuuut..."

_One sharp inhale later..._

"I've only just recently realized how much you look like your sister and quite frankly if you grew your hair out, you'd look just like her and that'd be weird"

...

"Oh god you're right that would be weird..."She whispered in horror

"Thank you" Ren nodded, returning to his position "Besides..."

"Besides?"

"I like short haired girls..." He said with a sly smile

...

"So if I had long hair, we wouldn't be dating, is that what you're saying?"

"For gods sak-THAT'S NOT-"

A sudden tackle from her interrupted his sentence, she made sure to take advantage of his shock and pin his wrists down

"You really need to learn to take a joke, _Joker_" She smirked before moving to claim his lips, a few breathless seconds later; "Although I still wouldn't mind seeing you try slicking back your hair for a change"

"Oh, I don't think so _Queen_" Ren chuckled "I can't be bought with a simple ki-"

"You know...when we were walking through Shinjuku the other day" She interrupted as she traced his belly button through his shirt with her finger "We passed by that..._adult _store?"

_Oh my god_

"I noticed you peeking at that little number in the window every time we passed by..."

_OH MY GOD_

"Well they have an online store" She hummed with a smile "Aaannnd..."

"Not...the High-Cut Armor!" Ren gasped

"I _was _going to bust it out on your birthday" She smirked "But maybe if you do this one little thing for me, I'd be feeling...generous"

...

"I'll get some gel" He declared as he leapt off the bed, practically throwing Makoto off him

"Get wax, it holds better"

"Will do!" Was his parting word as he dashed down the stairs

As he vanished, Makoto let out a hefty sigh and pulled out her phone

Guess she had to buy that perverted get-up now...


	2. Good Sex, and Where to Have it

There was one big, huge, colossal, fat, vast, commodious, walloping, sizable problem in Ren Amamiya and Makoto Niijima's relationship;

Sex

Well, not Sex itself, they'd consummated their relationship before, several times, hell, they were _good_ at it

The problem was simply location, location, location

There's just not many places for two horny teens to go at it.

Actually there are many places for two horny teens to go at it, just not these two.

Sojiro's attic wasn't exactly five-star but it sufficed, providing of course it was at night. They didn't dare attempt anything while LeBlanc was still open.

But it was getting to be too much, they had to wait for a night where Sae was working late, Makoto had to get a train, sneak in, convince Morgana to take a long walk while they _held a private strategy meeting_, have some quick super happy fun times and be out and get a train back before they went off for the night

Spending the night wasn't an option as they could never tell if Sae would return home unexpectedly, which had put a crimp in their plans once when Makoto was on her way over

_"Makoto? Where were you going at this hour?"_

_"S-Sis! I was...going out...to...buy...beetroot?"_

Neither was Ren staying with her a good idea, he'd gladly hop on a train and head to the Niijima residence, but when he arrived, and things got frisky in Makoto's room...

_"I can't...he's looking right at us!"_

_"Makoto, it's a fucking stuffed panda"_

Fuck you Buchimaru-kun

Cockblocking asshole

_"Well can't we just do it in the living room?"_

_"No way! I eat in there!"_

_"The bathroom?"_

_"Next to the toilet?!"_

_"YOUR SISTERS ROOM?!"_

Makoto damn near broke up with him over that one

So their options were limited, there was only one other place they've managed to successfully consummate. All they had to do was wait 'till school was done, Makoto would leave the back door open and they'd do it in the Student Council Room.

Unfortunately, a slow, uncomfortable, slow, silent, awkward, cramped, slow, comfortless. slow round of coitus ensued for 1/4th of the Phantom Thieve's

Despite it being damn near a half-hour after School ended, Makoto was utterly petrified that someone would walk-in on them, even though they locked the door...

_"What if Okada-san from Class 2-A comes in?"_

_"Makoto, the door's locked!"_

_"She might have a key! I don't want her opening the door and being greeted by your hairy-"_

_"I told you, I shaved!"_

So to be _careful_, a chair was propped up against the doorknob and they proceeded to have _snail-like_ sex, if you could even call it that. All that happened was Makoto pulled down her leggings -

_"Rip them and I rip off your best part and staple it to your forehead"_

-and her underwear to her thighs and got on all fours. Ren dropped his pants and awkwardly thrusted for about 3 minutes until it was time and then, not wanting to stain Makoto's clothes, just kinda spilled it on the floor

_Which_, by the way, Makoto made him mop up!

And how did that _lovers_ _union _end? Cuddling? A few kisses? Nope, Makoto pulled up her leggings, smiled and said "That was pleasant"

That was pleasant...

Pleasant...

Only way it could have been more demeaning was if she patted him on the head, with a; _"Good job buddy!"_

So the Student Council Room was officially off the table, never to be returned to, officially a no-sex zone

In fairness, a school should be a no-sex zone by default, but whatever

There were always Love Hotels...yeah, no. Scratch that

The idea of someone spotting a boy on probation and the Student Council President wandering in an establishment such as that would be..._problematic_

Not to mention a career ending misdemeanor for her...

So what now? The alley behind LeBlanc? Nah

#1: Exhibitionism was gross

#2: It'd be cold AF

#3: They'd be at risk of being seen. Makoto was _his_ girl damn it and he'd be damned if he let another guy get a look at her body

Forget a career ending misdemeanor, their _lives _would be over after that one

There _was _one other option that came to mind; Mementos

The cognitive world _would _provide adequate asylum for their fun times. _Buuuut _there's always the possibility of one or more of the Phantom Thieves walking in for some shadow slaying training and coming upon a display they weren't quite meant to see

Plus, there was the issue of Phantom Thief attire

Now Ren could easily slip out of his stylish get-up, the issue was with Makoto's bodysuit. The damn thing was practically fused to her skin, there was no visible way to remove the damn thing. Leaving the only option to just rip the damn thing off

Now, that _would _be hot as hell, _buuuuut_ they didn't know if their attire had any regenerative abilities, meaning the next time she entered the Metaverse she could we wearing nothing but a mask and a smile and that was_ not_ a risk they were wiling to take

Alas, reality is cruel...

_"Please God" Ren Amamiya muttered as he lay his head down for the night "Give_ _us somewhere to fuck"_

And God said; **"THEN THEE SHALL FUCK"**

"I'm needing to close the Cafe for a few days" Were the downright cathartic words that left the mouth of Sojiro Sakura "The stoves kicked the bucket and I can't exactly operate LeBlanc Cafe and Curry without it, it'll take a few days for the new one to get here so it'll just be you for a while"

Ren fought the urge to hug the man. After the _announcement_, he quickly pulled out his phone and began to type the good news to Makoto

_Joker- AYY GIRL WE GON FUCK-_

Scratch that, first drafts never hold up, Attempt Numero Dos;

_Joker- GET READY, I'M GOING TO DRILL IT INTO YOU-_

No, no, no, dumbass, try again, third time's the charm

_Joker- LeBlanc is closed for a few days, we can be alone_

Aaaannnnd send.

Perfect

_PING PING_

That was quick

_Queen- Not tonight_

_Wait, what_

_Joker- Something wrong?_

_Queen- I just saw the new Buchimaru-kun movie_

_Queen- It was awful! I can't believe what they've done!_

_Queen- I'm sorry Ren, I'm just...too bummed out for anything right now_

_Queen- I just need a few days to mourn what some corporate scumbag has done to my childhood_

_Queen- I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?_

Alas, reality is cruel

Fuck you Buchimaru-kun

Cockblocking asshole...


	3. Sae

_Edit, May 18: Fixed some spelling errors and added a few more lines of dialogue_

* * *

Did she like Ren Amamiya?

_That_ was the million dollar question

It's a question that Sae Niijima had asked herself over and over again

The boy was honorable, brave, steadfast. He had saved Japan, he had saved his friends, he had saved Makoto, he had even saved herself.

But there was one dilemma

The..._bond _he had with her little sister

Well, to put it bluntly, the relationship he had with her little sister

No...no, might as well put it blunt as possible. Her problem with Ren Amamiya is that he was having sex with her little sister.

Sae had always wanted the best for Makoto, she had told her that should she ever get married, it should be to someone she can rely on. Ren Amamiya was as reliable as they come, she knew, no matter what; he would stand beside Makoto come hell or high water.

But the thought, no, the knowledge that that boy was...doing..._things_ with her little sister awoke nothing less than primal fury.

She'd be looking for any excuse to make herself vacant when the boy came to visit her sister. And today she had a good one.

"Ah, Sae-chan, sorry did I keep you waiting?"

"Not at all, it's good to see you again Takahashi-san"

Nobuo Takahashi, an old friend of her father's from the police force. An odd meeting, given that he called her out of the blue the other day after years of distance.

"It has been quite some time" The man smiled as he sat down across from her

"Been even longer since I set foot in here" Sae murmured as she gazed around her surroundings

"Yes, _Bacchus_" Nobuo nodded "Your fathers favorite..._was _his favorite"

They elected a deep sigh from the both of them

"I promised your extended family that I'd keep an eye out for you and Makoto, but I received a transfer not too long after that" Nobuo soughed "I apologize"

"There's nothing to apologize for" Sae shook her head "Me and Makoto have been fine"

"Yes, I'm aware" Nobuo concurred "But I did make a promise, one that, now that I'm back in Tokyo, I intend to keep"

That caused Sae to raise an eyebrow

"I'm a very wealthy man, Sae-san"

_That _caused her to raise another

"You remember my son, Touya, yes?"

"I do..." She nodded apprehensively "He and Makoto used to play when they were children"

"He's been accepted to Tokyo U, has friends in high places, _and _he has a up-and-coming software company and that's raking in the big bucks, alongside my already sizable pension. And I intend to leave everything to him when I pass on" Nobuo explained "He's practically already set for life"

Sae could only give him a perplexed glance that asked _Why are you telling me this?_

"I understand that you recently quit your job as a prosecutor"

She was _more_ than taken aback by that

"How could you-"

"I had some people look into your situation for me" Nobuo casually explained like it was the most normal thing in the world, much to Sae's bewilderment "Nothing sinister, I assure you"

"Wh-Where are you going with this?" Sae asked, she'd had enough and finally wanted answers

"I know you're aiming to become a defense attorney, and I have no doubt that you will" The old man smiled "But I doubt you will be seeing anything close to the pay you were making before. Your apartment is high rent and you have to pay for food, clothing and heat not just for yourself, but for Makoto as well"

Words couldn't even begin to form in Sae's head, just where the hell was he going with this?

"I want to make sure you're both safe and secure, I want you to have the life your father wanted for you, and for that, I can help, and I know just how to do it..."

_And here was the bombshell_

"I want Makoto to marry my son"

...

...

...

"I-I'm...I'm sorry?" Was the small wheeze that left her lips

"Makoto would make a fine wife for Touya" Nobuo chuckled "He can afford to give her the world and more! He'd treat her like a queen!"

Sae couldn't believe this, was this actually happening right now?

"She'd never have to lift a finger and she'd live the life of luxury!" Nobuo laughed with his arms spread out wide, Sae was flabbergasted, he was genuinely full of joy right now, laughing away like fucking Santa Claus "Of course...I am old fashioned, and as you're Makoto-chan's legal guardian, I figured it'd be only be decent of me to ask you, prim and proper, for your sisters hand in marriage. So, or course, I'd like to hear your agreement! What'd ya say?"

Confusion, bewilderment, perplexion, befuddlement. Call it whatever you want; _that's _what she was feeling right now

Was this real? Her fathers old friend who she hadn't seen in close to half a decade calls her up out of nowhere and asks for her sisters hand in marriage? What the actual fucking fuck?!

But in the middle of her whirlpool of emotions, she did something she honestly did not want to do

She considered it

Wouldn't it be good? To set her sister up for life? To give her, like he said, the life their father wanted for them? Wouldn't Makoto be happy?

...

No

No she wouldn't.

She pictured it in her head. How she'd explain to it to her when she got home. She could see the look she'd give. The one of confused horror turning into heart-breaking sorrow.

Makoto wouldn't be happy

Makoto would be sad

Makoto would cry

She hated making Makoto cry...

She remembered years and years ago, when Makoto was just 5...

_"Big Sis! I don't wanna go! Makoto doesn't want to go to school! Makoto doesn't want to go to school!"_

She clinged to her big sisters leg and bawled her little eyes out. It broke her heart. Sae never wanted to see her cry again. She wouldn't allow that

And she knew she wasn't alone in feeling that way

Because if she accepted, then god have mercy on her soul when Ren Amamiya found out...

The boy would fight heaven and earth for Makoto, he'd never let someone take her away from him.

Hell not even just him, her friends, The Phantom Thieves. They'd never let Makoto go. If God himself said Makoto belonged to him now, they'd spit in his face and tell him to go back to the pearly gates or face a wrath worse than hell itself

And she would be right alongside them

"My answer is no"

...

"My..." Was Nobuo's genuinely shocked response "I must say, I...was not expecting a rejection"

"I'm sorry Takahashi-san, but I this is not an offer I can accept" Sae shook her head "My sister has a life planned out ahead of her, she aims to become commissioner of the police force. She will work her way towards that. She has no intention of being a spoiled housewife"

"I see, but please consider Sae-san-"

"There is nothing more you can say or do" Sae interrupted "Ask my Sister herself and you will get the same answer"

...

"l see then..." Nobuo hummed "Well If I may be so brash, may I ask you; are you truly sure that Makoto-chan isn't looking to settle down?"

"My baby sister is 17!" Sae hissed "She has her whole life in front of her! She has no intention of calling it quits now! She will live her life her way and she will settle down when she wants! And..."

...

"_And_?" Nobuo prodded

"And...when she does" Sae gulped "She already has someone in mind..."

...

"Ah yes, the _probation_ boy"

That froze Sae's heart firmly in place

"H-How could you possibly..."

_"I had some people look into your situation for me" _

"You...spied on us?!"

"Come now, that's such a mellow-dramatic way of putting it" He laughed, not with a hint of malice, but with genuine amusement "I didn't trust the look of that boy, so I had him looked into, imagine my shock when I found out Makoto-chan was hanging around with the boy who assaulted Masayoshi Shido himself!"

The laughter stopped as he leaned over and looked her dead in the eye

"Come now Sae-chan...you don't really believe that boy is worthy of your sister, do you?"

"He was framed, the charges were revoked" She growling, glaring the fiercest glare that she'd ever glared

"Alibi's can be bought" He hummed

"You must be joking..." Sae hissed

"Oh no, if the boy is capable of assault then-"

"Now you listen here" She halted him "Ren Amamiya was framed by a rotten politician who was so goddamn petty that he went out of this way to ruin the life of a boy who stopped him from assaulted from a woman"

"He-"

"Evidence was found, the witness testified, the charges were removed"

"And-"

"Ren Amamiya is an upstanding young man who was screwed over by a rotten system, a rotten system that I myself have been corrupted by in the past, a rotten system that still exists because of people like _you_"

...

"Sae-chan...if this about the money, I can assure you that a pretty penny will be placed in your pock-"

"This isn't about Money! My sister is not for sale, nor am I!" Sae seethed "I am **not** selling her out to a man she doesn't even know! No matter how _good_ you think it'll be for her!"

"Your father-"

"My father would never allow this!" She shouted "My father would put Makoto's happiness before anything! And I do too, so listen well Nobuo because I will say this only once. When my sister gets married, it won't be to your brat, it'll be to someone who deserves her. I don't care how much money he earns, or how successful he is. With you as his father, I know damn well that Ren Amamiya is ten times the man your son could ever dream of being"

A loud sneer of air from his nostrils was the sound that escaped from the _fuming _Nobuo Takahashi, before he looked her dead in the eyes once more

"I just offered you the deal of a lifetime Sae" Nobuo hissed "And you spit in my face? For what? Don't tell me you've come to care for that Amamiya whelp?!"

Sae closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh, before lifting her head and looking directly in to mans eyes

"Maybe I don't..."Sae exhaled "But my Sister loves him, and he loves her. So...that's more than enough for me"

...

"Very well then" Nobuo groaned as he stood up "I'm...disappointed, to say the least"

"I'm not..." Sae glared

"I see" He sighed as he began to exit "Well, it's a shame your fath-"

"My father would've punched you in the face" Was her blunt interruption "He would be disgusted with you...as I am"

The pure fury that manifested on Nobuo's face would scare the armies of hell

But not Sae Niijima

"Goodbye" Nobuo muttered as he walked past her

"Nobuo-san" She called out without turning back to him

"Yes?" He growled

"I may not be a prosecutor anymore, but I am still a lawyer, and _I _have friends in high places too" She snarled as she turned to look at him "Never try to interfere in our lives again, or I will make you regret ever considering coming back to Tokyo"

...

"Don't you worry" Nobuo scowled "I doubt we'll be seeing each other again any time soon"

And with that, he exited the bar, and hopefully, her life

Sae let out a deep sigh of relief as he disappeared, what a complete and utter-

"Your drink"

Sae was startled by the sudden voice, then she recalled _Oh yeah, it's a bar, I ordered a drink when I came in_. The whole incident had grabbed all of her attention, so much so that she'd forgot she'd ordered.

Well whatever, she could use a beer right now.

_PING PING_

Well damn.

With a sigh, she pulled out her phone to check her text, it was from Makoto

_Makoto - Do you remember Touya Takahashi?_

What?!

"No, no, no" Sae repeated as she frantically typed back

_Sae - What's he done?_

_Makoto - Huh?_

Don't _Huh? _me, this is serious!

_Sae - What did he want?!_

_Makoto - Well it'd been a while since I saw him_

GET TO THE POINT!

_Makoto - Me and Ren went on a walk. He came up to me on the street, I said hi and then he said it was good to see me again. Then..._

_Then_?! Oh god no, what had he said to her?!

_Makoto - He started going on about how he's rich now and how he had his own business, he wanted to take me on a tour of his building. But..._

STOP CUTTING OFF AND JUST TELL ME!

_Makoto - He then said he wanted to take me out to dinner. Ren got upset. Touya explained that he was an old friend of mine, but that didn't change anything. If anything, Touya-kun got upset since Ren was "interfering"_

Sae's breath hitched

_Makoto - I explained to Touya who Ren was, and he got upset. Well no, angry. He started screaming about he wasn't fit to be my boyfriend and how I should go with him. And then Ren..._

_Makoto - Well, I can't really repeat the things he said, but I don't think I'll be seeing Touya-kun anytime soon..._

_Makoto - Truth be told, I didn't even like Touya-kun when we were kids. I only played with him since our dads were friends_

_Makoto - I would've smacked him, I'd be more than able to handle him if he got too mad, but thankfully Ren was there, he scared him off so bad I actually think Touya-kun wet himself_

Sae's hitched breath finally escaped in the form of an amused chuckle

_Sae - I see_

_Makoto - Sis, look, I know you don't approve of us, but I really like Ren..._

_Makoto - What just happened, if anything, made me love him more_

_Makoto - I love him, Sis..._

She eyed the message for a few seconds before letting out a deep sigh

_Sae - I know_

_Sae - All I want is for you to be happy_

_Sae - I approve of Amamiya-kun, he clearly adores you, and the same goes for you to him._

_Sae - Be happy Makoto, live the life you want to live, that's all I want, that's all I've ever wanted_

_Makoto - Sis!_

A deep smile etched onto Sae Niijima's face. Makoto was okay, she'd always be okay, because Ren Amamiya would be at her side

_Sae - For the record, just because I've given my blessing doesn't mean you two can go crazy_

_Sae - You aren't getting married until you both have stable jobs with suitable incomes and your own home_

_Sae - And you two better be using protection, I'm not ready to be an aunt yet._

_Makoto - SIS!_

Sae chose not to reply, instead putting her phone away with an amused hum. Satisfied that her sister would get the love and care, and the life she deserved

And it was all thanks to Ren Amamiya

...

"Must be nice" She mumbled as she took a swig of her drink "I wonder if he has a brother..."


	4. Music

"What kind of music do you listen to?" She asked out of the blue, breaking the silence the two were sharing as she sat beside him on his bed

_That_ was a curious question...

"Huh?" He questioned as he sat up on his bed "That came out of nowhere"

"Well it's just..." She mumbled as she nudged up closer beside him "It's nothing...nevermind"

"No, no, it's fine" He smiled "I was just taken aback is all. Here I'll show you"

Ren reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, as well as a pair of tangled ear phones

_Goddamnit shit..._

30 Seconds of annoying un-tangling later, Ren plopped one of the buds in his ear, offering the other to Makoto, which she instantly accepted.

"My taste is a bit...varied" He chuckled "You'll see what I mean"

One opening of his music app and a hit of "Shuffle Play" later;

_"Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise. Running in the shadows, damn your love, damn your lies"_

"Oh, I know this one!" She gasped, desperately racking her brain for where she knew this song

_"And if, you don't love me now. You will never love me again. I can still hear you-"_

"Ah! Fleetwood Mac!" She piped up happily, Ren nodded with a smile "I'm surprised, I didn't know you like English music"

"Well, I grew listening to my Dad's old LP's, I pretty much got my taste in music from him"

For whatever reason, when he said that, he noticed Makoto's look _change_

It was subtle, the kinda thing you wouldn't notice if you weren't in love with them. The way how the corners of her mouth dipped down slightly and how her eyes slightly shifted

What had caused that? Because he'd mentioned his Father? Did she have a problem with his parents?

"Next one..." He said after a brief moment of hesitation

_"One, two, three, four walking like a man_

_Hitting like a hammer_

_She's a juvenile scam"_

Makoto was taken aback by this one, she wasn't that good at English and singer was speaking so fast she had trouble realizing the song was even_ in _English

_"Never was a quitter_

_Tasty like a raindrop_

_She's got the look"_

Ren chuckled slightly at Makoto's confused face, as she desperately tried to figure it out. He figured he'd put her out of her misery

"Roxette, The Look" He put her mind at east "They're Swedish"

"Oh that's right, they speak English over there, don't they?" She sighed, annoyed that she wasn't able to find the name on her own

"That, and Swedish" He smiled before hitting the _Next _Button

_"Last night a little dancer came dancin' to my door_

_Last night a little angel Came pumpin' 'cross my floor"_

"Billy Idol, Rebel Yell" She smuggly smiled "Sis has this album"

"Wow, Sae-san has better taste in music than I thought" He hummed, hitting _Next_

_"Si l'on m'avait conseillée,_

_J'aurais commis moins d'erreurs"_

"Is this...French?" Makoto questioned with a surprised look

"Yeah..." Ren embarrassingly admitted "I...didn't learn this one from my Dad. I found it online and thought it was catchy"

_"En rouge et noir, j'exilerai ma peur;_

_J'irai plus haut que ces montagnes de douleur,"_

Well "Noir" means black, she knew that much

"It's called _En Rouge et Noir_, it's by a French artist called Jeanne Mas" Ren sheepishly explained as he rubbed the back of his head "I just...like it is all"

"There's no need to feel embarrassed" Makoto chuckled as Ren skipped the song

_"Stand back, stand back_

_In the middle of my room_

_I did not hear from you"_

...

"I'm not gonna get this one" Makoto sighed

"Stand Back, Stevie Nicks" Ren laughed

And so they listened to another, and another, and another. For hours, the two teens just sat there, listening to the tunes coming from his phone.

Makoto felt embarrassed. Most of, if not all of the songs on her device were modern Japanese ones, and here was her boyfriend with the varied taste of music from all of the world and from as far back as 40 years ago

_"I suppose he is helping me broaden my tastes..."_

"Next one..." Ren hummed

"_I got a wife and kids in Baltimore Jack, I went out for a ride and never went back_"

Ren was taken aback as Makoto gasped and quickly ripped her earphone out

"What's wrong?" He asked, puzzled "Do you...not like Bruce Springsteen?"

"No...it's just...I know it's Hungry Heart by Bruce Springsteen" She murmured, trembling slightly "I heard this song this morning on the radio...it's the reason why I asked you what kind of music you like..."

Ren raised an eyebrow, but his confusion turned to concern as notable tears began to form in her eyes

"It was...my Dad's favorite song"

_Ah..._

_Suppose that's why she got weird when I mentioned my Dad earlier_

"I was just...wondering if...you had similar tastes" She sniffed "I just...can't help but think of him when I hear it..."

Ren wasn't sure what to do with the information Makoto was giving to him, but he'd be damned if he was going to sit there and just let his love cry like that

"Do you like this song?" Ren asked

"Huh?"

"Do you like this song?" He repeated

"Well...yeah, I-"

Ren immediately yanked out the earphones and cranked up the volume as high as it could go, standing up, he placed the phone on the series of shelves next to his bed before turning around to offer his hand to Makoto

"What are you..." She groused as she accepted his hand and he pulled her up to her feet and proceed to drag her into the center of the room. He then proceeded to wrap his arms around her, placing them on the small of her back, and slowly pace back and forth

_"Are we...dancing?" Makoto gasped_

"Tell you what" Ren whispered as the two rocked back and forth "I don't want you to be sad every time you hear this song, so whatd'ya say from now on, this'll be our song?"

...

He didn't need a verbal answer, her smile was enough. As she wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, he had a feeling this wouldn't be the last time they danced to it

* * *

_**7 YEARS LATER**_

* * *

"Called it" Ren smiled to himself, recalling that day

"Hmm?" Makoto questioned as the two rocked back and forth on the dance floor

"Nothing" He smiled as they went back to dancing

...

"Yo, Sae-san!" Ryuji greeted as sat down at her table

"Sakamoto-kun" She nodded

"Kinda weird huh?" He asked her before looking over to Ren and Makoto "Their first dance as a married couple and it's to Hungry Heart by Springsteen"

"How so?" Sae asked

"Well...they know this is a break-up song right?" Ryuji questioned

...

"Well I'm not telling them" Sae groaned as she downed her drink


	5. Baby & Buchimaru-kun

Makoto glared with baited breath, watching nervously as she fully anticipated a disaster

Watching the sticky paws run rough all over it...it made her queasy

"No, don't!" She yelped as he hopped forward, trying to prevent the worst "Don't pull at his ear like that!"

My god, she didn't even know she suffered from anxiety

The only response she got was a confused babble

"Don't hurt Buchi-kun" she moaned at the little one in the playpen

_Her _little one, with _her _Buchimaru-kun

Little Maya was her and Ren's bundle of joy, freshly arrived into the world 6 months ago

And Buchimaru-kun was her beloved, her first beloved _("Sorry, Ren")_. The large plushie was a keepsake from her father. A gift from her dearly departed Dad, she loved it like she loved him

And for some reason, Ren, knowing that, stuck it in the playpen for their daughter to play with

Her innocent, sweet little daughter, who was pulling at theearnoshetoldhernottodothatNOOOOOOOOOOO

"Stop!" Makoto yelped as she quickly yanked the plushie out of the baby's hands. Leaving a perplexed Maya staring at the empty space where he held the toy a few seconds ago. Though her confused silence only lasted a few second before the baby began to sniffle

"No! No no no no, sweetie, don't cry!" Makoto soothed as she leaned down to her "Mommy is sorry! Mommy's sorry! Here!"

Makoto quickly handed back the plushie, which Maya immediately grabbed back and snuggled her face against, wiping her small tears on it.

"I'm sorry" Makoto sighed, stroking the little brown mop of hair on her daughters head "Just...don't hurt Buchi-kun anymore, okay? It's important to m-"

"Achoo!"

"Noooo!" Makoto screamed in horror as Buchimaru's white fur was now covered in green, freshly from the nose of Maya Niijima-Amamiya

* * *

"I'm back!" Makoto announced happily as she stepped through her front door

"Hey" Her husband smiled as he placed a kiss on her cheek, noticing she had a plastic bag in one hand "Been shopping?"

"Yep" Makoto nodded before walking over to her little girls playpen and placing a small kiss on her forehead "Hey, beautiful girl, Mommy has a present for you!"

Makoto opened the bag in her hand and pulled out the contents, presenting it to her child like she was presenting a medal at the Olympics

"Ta-da!"

"A new Buchimaru-kun plushie?" Ren asked quizzically "Isn't that the same as your old one?"

"Yup!" Makoto nodded, placing the new one in the pen and yanking the old one out, which she promptly wrapped her arms around "Which means she doesn't need this smelly old thing anymore!"

And with that, she had finally freed Buchi-kun. She proceeded to hop happily towards the stairs, intending to place Buchimaru back in her and Ren's bedroom where it would be safe

_"Makoto Niijima-Amamiya, you're a genius"_

Actually no, she better give it a wash fi-

"Uh, Makoto?"

Ren's voice grabbed her attention, she turned round and looked down to the playpen

Maya was sniffing, acting like the there wasn't even a new Buchi-kun in there, all before she started bawling

"Waaaahhhhhhhhh!"

"But why?! It's the same one!" Makoto hollered

"I don't think she likes it" Ren sighed "I think you better put that one back"

"But it's the same one!" Makoto whined

"Makoto!" Ren scowled "Are you serious right now?! Maya is-"

"It's _my _Buchi-kun!" Makoto yelled "He-"

"Waaaahhhhhhhhh!"

Makoto was halted, she looked at her little baby crying her eyes out, it broke her heart. Maya was crying because of her, and her selfishness. She was being a horrible Mother right now...

_"God, what am I doing...?"_

Makoto sighed in deep shame, she walked over and picked up her daughter up in one arm, Maya's crying faded out but the little girl continued to whimper as she tried to reach over to the plushie in her Mother's other arm

"Makoto?" Ren questioned

"Just give me a minute" Makoto said as she walked out the room

She made her way up the stairs, and walked into her bedroom, planting her behind on the bed. She put down the plushie and reached over and grabbed a photo

"See that? That's your Grandpa" Makoto showed Maya "He was a great man, he would've loved you..."

Maya titled her head as her mother put the photo down and grabbed another

"That's Mommy when she was young" She smiled "See that in my arms? That's Buchimaru-kun. The same one that's right here. It was a gift from my Dad, your Grandpa. It means a lot to me..."

Makoto put the photo down on the bed and grabbed the plushie. Maya's eyes lit and let out a toothless grin as Makoto handed her the stuffed panda

"And you're important to me too" Makoto smiled as her baby snuggled in its white fur "So you can play with him, _but_ you need to be careful okay? Treat Buchi-kun like Mommy does"

Maya let out a smile at her Mama, almost like she understood her words. The adorable little grin caused Makoto to place a small kiss on her forehead

"Look after him for me" She whispered

"You two made up" Ren smiled

"I didn't even hear you come in" Makoto said as her husband sat next to her

"I was just outside the door, heard what you were saying and figured it was a Mother/Daughter moment" Ren said to her

"Yeah..." Makoto let out a smile as she looked at her daughter happily paw away at Buchimaru "My Dad would've loved her..."

"Yeah, he would" Ren told her as he noticed his wife getting misty-eyed, he leaned over and placed a small kiss on her cheek "But at least this way, Maya has something from him"

"Yeah..." Makoto smiled happily

"Achoo!"

...

"We gotta wash that thing" Ren told her as Maya sneezed on it again

"Yeah, do it when she's napping" Makoto nodded


	6. Roleplay

_Three things;_

_Sorry this took so long, was kinda creatively bankrupt for a while_

_This is the first chapter to really justify that M Rating_

_As mentioned as the description, all chapters aren't linked (unless specifically stated), so yes, these aren't in chronological order. So incase you're wondering why they've gone from a married couple with a child in the last chapter to back to being teens in this one, there's your answer_

* * *

_**SPANKING, SCHOOL**_

"Wrong again Niijima!"

_*SPANK*_

"Ah!" She yelped in pain "I...I'm sorry Sensei!"

"Don't be sorry, be better" He scoffed "Keep this up and you won't be getting your clothes back anytime soon"

She grimaced slightly as she sat back down on the chair. Her clothes confiscated by the teacher, leaving her to place her sore, bare bottom on the wooden chair and sit there completely naked at her desk in the middle of the crowded classroom

...

Well not really, it was just the two of them in the attic of Leblanc but hey, don't ruin the immersion...

"Can anyone answer the question on Page 12...No one?" Ren sighed at his imaginary class "Niijima?"

"Uh, yes sir!" She yelped as she shot straight up, her breasts and buttocks jiggling at the sudden momentum

"Answer correctly and I may be persuaded to hand you all of your clothing back" Ren scoffed

"Yes sir" She nodded as she picked up the book _("We gotta have props") _"The-"

"Young lady, you should know by now that when I call on someone in this class to answer a question, they do it in front of the class" He angrily interrupted

"Yes, I'm s-sorry Amamiya-Sensei" She shuddered as she slowly made her way to the front of the "class", her feet stinging on the cold, hard marble floors...

Again, not really, but don't ruin the immersion...

"No laughing class" Ren grumbled as his imaginary students "Niijima's naked because her grades are falling, but I will not hesitate to make you go through the same punishment. Now Niijima, you've been falling behind, I need to make sure you can perform well under pressure..."

"Y-Yes, Sensei" she nodded as she turned her back to him and faced the _class_ "It is said that-EEK!"

She yelped as the long ruler in Ren's hand made its way between her thighs, hovering in the gap

"Continue Niijima" Ren demanded

"S-Sir, your ruler" She stuttered as it brushed the inside of her thighs "It's..."

"Continue" He repeated

"It...it is said that-ah!"

The ruler war now rubbing against her folds, slipping into the small gap between them, stimulating her clit

"S-Stop!" She whimpered as her knee's buckled

"It appears you've failed" Ren sighed as he continued on despite her protests "I'm afraid that's the last straw Niijima, I'll have to remove you from the upcoming entrance exams since you're so incompetent"

"No! I-"

Whatever the next words that were going to come out of her mouth were erased as her mind went blank and her muscles turned to jelly. What can only be described as a **ferocious **orgasm ripped through her, her fluids gushing from her like a burst dam, coating the floor and her bare feet

"Such a mess..." Ren sighed as he reached around her, flicking one of her nipples as the girl leaned on him, relying on him as a crutch "Tell me, Niijima, what will you do now?"

_*SPANK*_

"ENOUGH OF THE DAMN RULER REN!" She roared. grabbing it and snapping it clean in two, like a dry reed

"Sorry! Sorrysorrysorry!" Ren pleaded for his life

"Honestly" She sighed, her being naked as the day she was born did nothing to distill the fear she was installing in him. Nevertheless, she knew that fear evaporated as she walked back to the chair, those rotund butt-cheeks that Ren loved so much, swaying and jiggling until she planted that rear-end on the chair, wincing as she did as they were red raw and possibly bruised. Noticing that Ren was staring deeply at her womanhood, she crossed her legs with a loud _Hmph!_

"Okay, not doing that one again" Ren sighed

_**PUBLIC NUDITY, POLICE**_

"Tell me detective" Makoto smugly grinned "What am I in for?"

"You know damn well, brat" Ren growled as he slammed his hand on the desk

"Oh, I do?" She giggled with a mock pout

"Indecent exposure" Ren glared at her, totally nude with the exception of pair of handcuffs (actually just a two socks tied together, but again, immersion)

"Oh, that's right" Makoto smiled, looking down at her nude figure "My, my, I'm naked, how did that happen?"

"Fourth time this has happened" Ren said, opening a folder, it was blank, but of course, imagination was required for this "Pole dancing on a street lamp, masturbating in a cafe, bathing in a public fountain, and now just flat-out Streaking in broad daylight"

"What can I say?" Makoto smiled, leaning back in her chair and pushing her chest out, emphasizing her erect nipples "I have such a nice body, it's practically a crime in-and-of itself to not show if off"

"Don't you have an ounce of shame?" Ren growled, pounding his fist on the desk

In-response, Makoto shot up so fast, her chair flew back

"Sit-down!" Ren demanded, but Makoto's smiled at him, at then slowly turned around, exposing her backside, which she promptly placed on the table "What are you-"

"You said _sit down_" She giggled

"You-"

"It looks good, doesn't it?" Makoto smiled "You can touch it if you like"

Ren gulped as he stared dead-ahead at the lumps of flesh, admiring the small freckles on her skin

"Y'know Detective" She smiled "I'm a virgin"

"W-Wha-"

"I like showing this body off, but I've yet to met a man worthy enough to let him _touch_" She explained as she leaned back slowly, making sure not to topple the desk, which in actuality was just the dinky little table in the LeBlanc attic. Her breasts jiggled as she laid down, her nipples hard enough to cut diamonds at this point

"You're nothing but an exhibitionist slut" He growled as he stood up

"I can be _your _exhibitionist slut" She licked her lips, reaching over and began to undo his belt "You...asshole"

...

"Huh?"

"Look, I'm not good at this" Makoto grumbled

"You were doing so well!" Ren whined "The _your exhibitionist slut_ thing, that was gold!"

"Look, just lemme try again okay?!"

"Fine" Ren sighed

...

"I can be _your _exhibitionist slut" She licked her lips, reaching over and began to undo his belt "You dirty boy..."

_"Oh fuck yeah"_

"What'd ya say, detective" Makoto smiled, as she whipped his belt off "I'll start with my mouth and we'll work our way down, shall we?"

_**SEX IN BATHROOM, PLUMBER**_

"I gotta say" Ren smirked as he slammed his sweaty, naked body against her equally sweaty, naked body in the cramped LeBlanc bathroom "I thought this stuff only happened in porn"

"Well I gotta pay you somehow" Makoto smiled, her mind melting in ecstasy

"It's kinda a cliche is not?" Ren laughed, now grabbing Makoto by the hips and holding her in the air, with his hands supporting her body as she pushed up on the toilet

"Don't drop me" She told as he was now thrusting so hard that her head was centimeters away from smashing into the wall

"I won't" He panted "Pretty sure it'd violate work ethics if I hurt my client"

_*BONK*_

"Ahh!"

"Sorry!" Ren apologized as Makoto's head did indeed smash into the wall

"You...you're making this up to me" Makoto groaned

"How's that then?" Ren panted as he still thrusted into Makoto

"Oh...I know"

With that, Makoto moved her legs back down to the floor, causing Ren to exit her. She then turned both of them around and then pushed him onto the closed toilet lid

_"Sex __**on **__the toilet, really?"_

"I'm on top now" She smiled as she say on his lap, guiding his manhood back into her

"I'll have to charge you extra for this"

"Oh...after what I'm about to do" Makoto smirked with a subtle lip bite "I think you'll be giving me a discount"

_**ANGRY SEX, PIRATES**_

"Arrr, I'm gonna plunder the booty"

"Don't do the voice Ren"

_**FEMDOM, MASTER AND SERVANT**_

"Good evening Miss Niijima, how may I assist you this evening"

"Shut the fuck up and eat my ass out"

"Yes ma'am"

_**CONTEST, WORKOUT**_

"And that's 20" Ren smiled as he let go of the roof's support beam and fell back to the floor "That's 2 more pull-ups than you"

Makoto sneered at her shirtless boyfriend, as she herself stood there dressed in sneakers and a tight leotard she had picked up cheap into a sports clothing store. Her usual gym attire contributed of a sports bra and yoga pants but this was obviously her and Ren's _fun time _so she instead went for the sexier option

"What can I say, I'm just better" Ren smirked with a slight flex of his bicep

"How so?!" Makoto snapped

"Well I'm stronger" He laughed "I'm also bolder, and I've got a nicer bod' that I don't mind showing off!"

"Oh yeah?!"

With a furious roar, Makoto grabbed the leotard with both hands and ripped it clean in two, the fabric tearing off her body, exposing her sweaty, toned form. Actually working out with Ren had gained her some noticeable muscle, most notable at the moment were the outline of abs that graced her stomach.

"How's that for bold!" Makoto roared "You think being shirtless in the gym is bold?! I'm stark naked! And my body's way better!"

...

...

...

"Uh...Ren?"

"Sorry! Sorry..." He muttered, exiting his trance "It's just...that is the hottest fucking thing you have ever done"

"Aww" She smiled

"A-Anyway...oh yeah?! Well!" Ren growled as he ripped off his sweatpants "Now I'm naked in the gym too!"

"Oh yeah, well if you really as bold as you think you are-"

Makoto threw herself on the floor on her back and threw her legs up, spread eagle

"Do me! Right here!"

"Oh yeah?! Then I will!" Ren roared as he threw himself onto her, miraculously inserting himself into her on landing "I'm gonna give you the best workout you ever had!"

* * *

"That was my favorite one yet" Makoto smiled as she placed a kiss on his cheek

"Yeah" Ren smiled, before peering down to his feet "Somehow being naked in shoes feels even more naked than actually being totally nude"

"So...what's next?" Makoto asked as she reached over and grabbed the source of their recent adventures

A pair of 10-sided dice, a gag gift from Ann and Ryuji. One die contained a scenario, the other a location or occupation. The two had one evening agreed to use the gag gift, and found much more pleasure in it than they expected, leading to their recent roleplaying adventures.

"Shoot" Ren instructed as Makoto rolled the dice

_**"SPANKING". "SCHOOL"**_

"Roll again, we've done that one already" Ren sighed

...

"Makoto?"

"That's...Niijima-sensei to you" Makoto smiled deviously "I'm afraid you won't be seeing any clothing anytime soon Amamiya-kun, now hand me that ruler"


	7. The Look

_Makoto - I'll be fine_

_Ryuji - You sure? It was a pretty nasty cut_

_Makoto - Dr. Takemi stitched my arm up, it should be fine_

_Makoto - I'll have to wear long sleeved shirts for a while, in the summer no less..._

_Makoto - But it's better than explaining to Sis why there's a gash in my arm_

_Ren - As long as you're okay_

_Yusuke - Yes, your recovery is essential_

_Makoto - I'll be fine _

_Ann - Alright, but I guess we'll have to go through the next level of Mementos without you_

"Mementos" Ren mutters, staring at the message log on his phone

* * *

_"Shit, Joker!" Skull cried out_

_"He's been hit!" Mona shouted "It's exhausted him!"_

_"I can't..." Joker muttered, his body feeling like it was shutting down, he was seconds away from falling asleep standing up_

_"JOKER!" Fox cried out, darting for his friend as the blade-wielding demon closed in _

_"You're not gonna make it in time!" Panther screamed_

_"MOVE, JOKER!" Noir cried out as the shadow raised its blade_

_"CHARGE, JOHANNA!"_

_With a mighty smack, the motorcycle plowed into the shadow, knocking it far into the darkness_

_"Alright Queen!" Skull cheered_

_"Joker!" Queen cried out with worry, running over to the now hunched over, masked Ren "Come on, snap out of it!"_

_"Queen! Here!" Oracle shouted as an objected ejected right out of Necronomicon which flew into Queen's hands_

_"A...paper fan?" She questioned_

_"Just give him a smack! It'll knock him back to his senses!" Oracle instructed_

_"O-Okay!" Queen nodded, gulping as she reeled her hand back "Sorry about this..."_

_**THWACK!**_

_Ren let out a yelp as the fan stung his skin, but it succeeded in knocking the exhaustion out of him, he was finally able to open his eyes again, and was greeted with Queen's red eyes just a few inches in front of him_

_The sight made his heart skip a beat_

_"Are you okay?" She asked_

_He didn't answer, how could he? Any words that were in his brain and on the way to his mouth had been sharply inhaled back down his throat at the sight of her face_

_'God, she's beautiful'_

_"Ren..." _

_Her voice was quiet, but he still heard every breath that left her lips, and he wondered if she could hear the fact that she took his away when she placed her gloved hand on his cheek_

_"Are you okay?" She repeated, worry evident in her voice_

_..._

_"I am now" He said, his red-gloved hand now overlapping hers_

_She smiled, that was all she needed_

_At least, that's what she thought_

_"Hey, it's not finished!" Skull cried as the shadow who Queen had seemingly finished off was darting back towards them_

_"Look out!" Noir cried_

_Queen panicked, It was coming too fast, she didn't have time to summon Johanna. It was charging right at her_

_No, it was coming back for Joker._

_She wouldn't let that happen_

_"Move!" Queen roared as she grabbed Joker by the shoulders and pushed him back_

_"Queen!" Joker shouted as the demons blade swung down_

* * *

Makoto got hurt

Makoto got hurt and it was his fault...

_Ren - I'm sorry_

_Ren - If only I wasn't so useless_

_Makoto - Stop it, this wasn't your fault_

_Ryuji - Yeah man, that shadow got one over you, you paid him back tenfold dude_

_Futaba - Yeah, you practically ripped that thing apart with your bare hands_

_Ann - Even when it started begging for mercy..._

_Makoto - Don't go blaming yourself for this, I chose to help_

_Ren - No, I was just in the way, it's my fault_

_Makoto - You know, it's funny. I used to be the one told they were in the way and they were useless_

_Makoto - I chose to help someone who needed help, if I didn't __**I **__would be useless_

_Ren - Makoto..._

_Ryuji- Stop kicking yourself man_

_Ann - We're a team..._

_Makoto - I'm home now anyway, I'm going to rest_

_Makoto - I feel like I could sleep for a week_

_Futaba - You need anything? Painkillers or something? I could swipe Sojiro's medicine cabinet_

_Makoto - That's...okay, thank you_

_Yusuke - Perhaps some herbal remedies? I have some tea that I'm told is soul cleansing_

_Makoto - I'm fine, thanks_

_Makoto - I'm just going to bed_

_Haru - Get better!_

_Makoto - I will_

_Makoto - Oh, and Ren?_

_Ren - Yeah?_

_..._

_Makoto - Sorry, it's nothing..._

_Makoto - Talk to you later..._

With that, the chat ended. Ren sighed, placing his phone back on his bed and then ran his hand through his hair

"You _really_ need to stop beating yourself over this" Morgana groaned, jumping up onto the bed

"How can I not?" Ren grumbled

"She said it wasn't your fault!" Morgana snapped

"I know!" Ren shouted before letting out a heavy sigh "I know..."

"What is with you?" Morgana questioned

"Look, I'm trying to figure out some stuff, okay?" Ren informed him "It's not exactly easy"

"What do you mean?" Morgana asked

"I think..." Ren muttered "I think I-"

_"Oi!" _Came Sojiro's voice from downstairs _"One of your friends is here to see you, least you can do is greet her"_

"Huh?" Ren questioned as he made his way to the steps, walking down them, and surprisingly discovering-

"Haru?"

"Ren-kun" Haru smiled hugely

"W-What are you doing here?" Ren questioned

"Is that any way to talk to a customer?" Sojiro grumbled

"O-Oh! Sorry..." Ren apologized "What can I get you?"

"Umm, actually I was hoping to talk to you" Haru informed "Alone..."

...

"Oh" Sojiro says breezily with a small laugh "I...need to go get some cigarettes, I should be back in...let's say, ten minutes"

"I'll make myself scarce" Morgana chuckles, heading upstairs

Within seconds, the two teens were left alone

"So..." Ren muttered, sitting in one of the cafe's booths, joined by Haru at the opposite end "What is it you need?"

"Umm..." Haru gulped "It's just...back in Mementos earlier...I felt so weak"

"You too huh?" Ren deeply sighed

"Mako-chan got so badly hurt, we had to bandage her arm with her waistcoat and rush her to Takemi-san's clinic" Haru muttered "I didn't even do anything remotely helpful..."

"We all have our own strengths" Ren says, causing Haru to smile "Everyone appreciates your abilities"

"That's kind of you to say" Haru says, still smiling brightly

"I'm just...glad Makoto is okay now, at least, that's what she told me" Ren pitied himself again

"Yes...I could see they worry in your eyes when she was hurt, it was...quite intense" Haru pointed out, causing Ren to blush slightly "And the anger you displayed afterwards...Ren-kun?"

"Hmm?"

"Would you have reacted that way if _I _was the one who was hurt?"

"Huh?" Ren asks, not understanding her meaning

"If...I was the one was attacked and hurt, trying to defend you..." Haru sucked in her breath, she didn't think she'd have to explain it to him "Would you have reacted the same way?"

"What?!" Ren asks, turning red

"I...saw the way you got angry, for Mako-chan, the look of concern you gave her, just like the way she looked at you" Haru gulped, avoiding his eyes "Would...you react that way for me?"

_"This...this isn't real is it?" Ren asked himself_

"Have you ever...noticed me, Ren-kun?" Haru asked

"Noticed you?" He repeated

"Noticed me...in a..." Haru's whole face was practically red at this point "Romantic way?"

Ren can't even respond, his voice is gone and his face is frozen

"I noticed you..." She gulped, looking at her feet "And I wondered if it was the same for you, for me"

...

"No..." Ren states bluntly, causing the girls head to jolt up, looking at him with a pained expression that he quickly averts his eyes from "Not...like that...I've...only thought of you like a friend"

"I...see" Haru states, her voice quivering "I...wanted to just make sure...but I didn't have a chance did I? I waited too long...not that it would've mattered anyway"

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked, genuinely confused

"You met Mako-chan first" Haru smiled tearfully "It was too late for me..."

"Again, I have no clue what you're talking about" Ren told her

"You...like Mako-chan, don't you?"

"Wha-" Ren semi-gasped

"I knew it..." She gulped "When I saw the way you looked at her after she ran over to you...I knew I'd lost y-"

"Haru, look-" Ren cut her off "Look...I don't...know, okay? I'm still trying to figure everything for myself, I don't need people coming to conclusions for me..."

"O-Oh!" Haru gasped in surprise, Ren could tell that ignited some hope in her

He didn't _want _to, but he'd have to shoot that hope down...

"But...look, this has nothing to do with me meeting Makoto first okay? Haru, you're a friend..." Ren informed her, he could tell by her eyes she knew his meaning "No matter when and how we met, that's all we'd ever be..."

"I...see..." She practically whispered "I..."

"I'm sorry" Ren sighed, not really knowing what to say "I-...wait, hang on..."

"Hmm?"

"Earlier, you said_ just like the way she looked at you_, you mean...Makoto was worried about me?" Ren questioned

"Yes..." Haru nodded "When she saw that shadow heading for you...the look of horror on her face was...the same look you gave her when she was hurt"

"Makoto..." Ren muttered

He remembered her face, those bright red eyes staring right at him

Ah...things were beginning to make sense now

"I'll...be on my way" Haru mutters quickly, Ren tries to say something but she's practically out the door by the time he's opened his mouth

With his 500th sigh of the day, he holds his head in his hands. He hears the chime of the door opening once again, looking up, he doesn't find Haru, but his middle-aged caretaker

"Yikes..." Sojiro muttered, somehow feeling the energy of the room "Didn't go so well?"

"Depends on what you mean..." Ren sighed "Things are making sense and making no sense at the same time"

"Hoo, boy" Sojiro sighed "I'll brew the coffee and we'll have a chat"

"You don't have to" Ren told him

"Believe me kid, I think I do" Sojiro smiled "I've had my fare share of lady issues"

* * *

"Yo..." Ryuji greeted, coming across Ren in the school "Whacha doin'?"

"Waiting for someone" Ren told

"Oh, you in _trouble~~_" Ryuji sang "What punishment is Kawakami givin' ya?"

"Nothing like that" Ren grumbled at his best friend

"Oh?" Ryuji hummed "Then-"

"Sorry to keep you waiting" Makoto greeted as she appeared before them "Oh, is Ryuji-kun joining us? I was under the impression that it was just going to be the two of us"

"It is" Ren informed her before turning to Ryuji "He was just leaving..."

"Oh..." Ryuji muttered

_"Oh..."_

...

...

...

"OH!" Ryuji shouted, before immediately covering his mouth "Yeah, yeah! I was just going"

"Oh, okay then" Makoto nodded

"Leaving...leaving you two" Ryuji says as he glides away from them "_~Alooooooone~_"

_"Called it" Ryuji hummed to himself as he disappeared from their view_

"So what is it you wanted to talk to me about?" Makoto asked

"It's about the other day" Ren said "In Mementos"

"This again?!" Makoto groaned "Ren, we've been over th-"

"No, not that" Ren cut her off "It's about why..."

"Huh?" Makoto questioned

"Why you protected me...and the way you looked at me when you did"

"W-What?!" Makoto blushed

"The look...you gave me" Ren said softly "It's the same one I gave you"

Makoto breath hitched in her throat as her cheeks lit up

"How..."

"Makoto...have you ever..._noticed _me?"

...

"Have...have you ever noticed_ me_?" she questioned right back, averting his gaze

"I think we know the answer to both those questions" Ren smiled, noticing a grin appearing on her face

"We...should discuss this more privately" Makoto gulped, before panicking "I-I-I don't mean we should-"

"I know...just talk" Ren smiled

"Yeah..." Makoto smiled back as she placed his hand on his cheek, his hand once again overlapping hers "Talking sounds good right about now..."

"Where to?" Ren asked

"The Student council room should be empty" She said as he lowered her hand, but Ren's hand remained on top of hers, eventually intertwining their fingers

"Sounds good to me" Ren said softly as the two teens began to walk hand-in-hand


	8. Unwanted Confession

_This is a really short one I wrote in like, 30 minutes_

* * *

"I like you Niijima-senpai..n-no! I love you! Please go out with me!"

Makoto feels her heart stop at what she just heard, Matsumoto-kun from her class had asked her to come down the courtyard during lunch, she figured it was something to do with her duties as student council president, but this...

"I'm in love with you" He said as he stopped bowing at stood upright "I have been for a long time now..."

"I...really don't know what to say" Makoto gulped

"I'm sorry if I shocked you" He apologized "But...I...could...could you give me an answer?"

"An...answer?" Makoto questioned, nothing was making sense right now

"Do you...like me?"

He's looking at her hopefully, Makoto is looking at him with a shocked expression on her face, with a quick scratch of her arm and with a regretful expression, she finally replies

"I'm...sorry Matsumoto-kun" Makoto tell him softly, not wanting to prolong this "I'm afraid that I can't return your feelings, I don't feel that way about you"

...

"I see" Matsumoto nods, his eyes clearly welling up but he nods nevertheless "Thank you for being honest with me"

"It's just..." Makoto tries to explain "I don't mean to hurt your feelings but the truth is, I don't even know you that well, I'm...flattered, honest. But...I..."

"It's Amamiya, isn't it?" Matsumoto says in a voice barely above a whisper, Makoto looks at him like a deer in the headlights "Yeah...I figured that was the case"

"Uh..." Makoto uncomfortably groans

"It's fine...the whole reason I finally decided to tell you how I felt was because I saw you and him at the arcade on Central Street, you looked happy with him, it looked like you were on date, so I...I just wanted to...see if I really had any shot left" Matsumoto sighs

"I didn't mean to hurt your feelings" Makoto sighed, trying to let him down easy. She can understand, if Ren rejected her, she'd be feeling pretty identical to how he was feeling right now

"I know. You can't help who you love. The heart wants what the heart wants" He says with a small sniffle, only making Makoto feel worse

"Are you going to be okay?" Makoto asks with concern

"I'll be fine" He says as he looks at her with watery eyes. "Thank you, Niijima-senpai"

Makoto nods and watches as he excuses himself, once he's returned to the school building and out of earshot, she lets out a deep sigh

...

"Me, huh?"

Makoto practically leaped out of her skin at the unexpected voice, she snaps he head back so fast she almost gives herself whiplash, meeting the glasses-wearing face of Ren Amamiya

"Were you there the whole time?!" Makoto asked, Ren nods, it's then that she notices he's in his gym clothes

"I was just tying my shoe over there when I heard your voice" Ren states, nodding his head to the grassy area of the courtyard just out of eyeshot "Then I heard...everything else"

"You did?" Makoto asks in a horrified whisper

"Yeah..." Ren says in an even voice, he doesn't want to give away the admittedly pitiful happiness he's feeling that Makoto shot down Matsumoto because she's with him instead

"I don't want to talk about it" Makoto tells him in a very embarrassed tone "I thought...I thought no one at this school cared for me, that they all thought I was some kind of teachers pet that turned a blind eye to all of Kamoshida's doings, but now I find out that someone was in-love with me this whole time..."

"That's...something alright" Ren lets out with a slight groan, he knows that Makoto is his girl, she'll always be no matter what, but the thought of someone trying to take her away from him annoys him greatly.

"I barely know Matsumoto-kun, I couldn't even process a relationship..." She sighs out, almost as if she was reading his problems and looked to ease him down "I couldn't process a relationship with anyone other than you"

Ren lets out a slight blush as Makoto looks at him, letting out a slight smile

"I love you"

"Whah?!" Makoto gasps as he eyes widen in shock, Ren smiles and approaches her

"There's a confession you can happily accept, right?" Ren asks in an amused voice, Makoto's nerves calm down as he approaches her, he leans down and presses his lips against hers, when this kiss is eventually broken, he places his forehead against hers, he hears Makoto take a deep, shaky breath before replying to him

"Thank you for loving me" She tells him with a smile

"You're welcome...my Queen" Ren whispers back before kissing her again


	9. Study Partner

"This is bad" Ren groans, rubbing his shaggy black hair as the two depart the school

"You've got a whole day left to study" Makoto informs him "Just sit at your desk in LeBlanc for a while"

"Except I can't" He groans, confusing her "Some business men rented out LeBlanc for a meeting, I can't go back 'till 9"

"I see..." Makoto gulps, trying to ignore how shady that sounds "Well...perhaps..."

_"Why am I so embarrassed?" She asks herself_

"_Perhaps_...?" Ren eggs on

"Perhaps..." Makoto says with a clear of her throat "We can study at...my house, I was planning on some last minute revision myself"

...

"Ah..." Is the only sound he makes

_"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" Makoto curses at herself, her cheeks flaming red now "Now he's gonna think you're into him!_

_..._

_Stupid! You ARE into him! Now he's gonna KNOW you're into him!"_

"S-Sure..."

"Wha-" Makoto half-gasps before catching herself

"Sure" Ren gulps, trying to suppress the redness in his cheeks

_"Calm down!" He yells at himself "She's just trying to help you with school!"_

"I see...okay then" Makoto nods, pacing forward with a bounce in her step, trying to hide her blush "Let's catch the train"

* * *

_**NIIJIMA RESIDENCE**_

"I appreciate this" Ren smiles, removing his shoes

"It's no problem" Makoto smiles, slipping off hers, she jogs up slightly, checking the contents of the living room "Sis, you home?"

There's no response, she can only assume Sae's still busy at work

"Take a seat at the table" Makoto instructs with a smile "I'll get us something to drink"

"Right" Ren nods, moving to the table in the Niijima dining room and pulling out a chair

_"Calm down" Ren instructs himself as he sits down "She's just being a friend..._

_You're friends, nothing more_

_Makoto is your friend_

_Makoto is..._

_Makoto is...cute_

_She's smart_

_She's badass_

_She's beautiful..._

_She's..."_

"Stop" Ren whispers to himself, clenching his fists and closing his eyes "She'd never go for someone like you"

_"But...I like her..._

_But I'm just a troublemaker with a criminal record. That's what everyone thinks of me anyway...She wants to be a cop, I'd just cause her trouble..._

_It doesn't matter...Makoto would never feel the same way about me. She'd probably go for someone like Akechi, or someone like that..._

_You don't have a chance with her, so just shut up already..."_

...

"Stop" Makoto whispers to herself, carrying two mugs towards the table "We're just studying, nothing more"

She walks over and notices Ren has his eyes closed, she places the mug infront of him, the ceramic mug clanging the table knocks him back to reality, the jolt causing him to look at her, his pale silver eyes looking directing into her crimson ones

_"I want it to be more..."_

"T-Thanks" Ren says, immediately taking a swig from the mug

"I-Isn't that hot?" Makoto asks with concern

"Scalding" He wheezes, immediately placing it back on the table

"D-Do you need some water?" She asks, he waves the question off. With a sigh, she places her drink down on the table and takes a seat next to him

She's sat next to him before, but never when they've been alone

"Alright" Makoto sighs, pulling out her text books "Prepare yourself, I'm going to drill it into you"

...

"Uh...uhhh" Makoto's brain ceases as she realized exactly what that sounded like

"Something wrong?" Ren asks, Makoto thanks the gods that her accidental innuendo slipped past him

"No, not at all" She informs with a clear of her throat "Let's begin..."

_"That...sounded like something else"_ _Ren gulps, he definitely noticed what that sounded like_

_**50 MINUTES LATER**_

"Oh man" Ren groans, running his hands through his frizzy hair

"Come on" Makoto sighs "We've still got a lot to go through"

"Yeah, I know" Ren nods, tilting his gaze towards her

Something about his posture, the look in his eyes, his face, It...warmed Makoto's heart

...

_"I want to kiss him" She told herself "Does he want to kiss me?_

_I've never kissed anyone before, he'd by my first kiss_

_Would I be his? Has he ever kissed anyone before? Of course he has, he's so handsome_

_But he's never mentioned a girlfriend in past, maybe not? I want to know"_

"Ren, have you ever kissed anyone before?"

The coffee that was in Ren's mouth was promptly launched halfway across the room

_"Huh, why did...he...oh god...OH GOD I SAID THAT OUT LOUD!"_

"I-I-I-I-I-I" Makoto gasps over and over again, like she was having some kind of attack "F-Forget I said that! It was just a dumb thought I accidentally said out lo-"

"No" He coughs out

"Huh!?" Makoto gasps as he wipes the spilled coffee

"No...I've..." He mutters as he tries to remove the coffee stains from the table "I've never kissed anyone before"

...

"I see..." She nods, and as she does, she immediately turns her head away to avoid showing the hint of a smile on her face

_"I want to kiss you"_

_..._

_"I want to kiss you" Ren repeats to himself "I've wanted to kiss you for months now, but...do you want to kiss me? If we do, how will things change?"_

Makoto tries to compose herself, she's wondering if she basically gave away that she wants to kiss him, that she wants to kiss him and run her hands through his frizzy locks. To make him hers

_"I'm not sure how much longer I can sit here" She tells herself, turning her gaze back to him "If I keep slipping up like that, I might just lose control and end up kissing him"_

"Have you?"

"Huh?" She asks

"You" Ren says, looking at her, dead in the eyes "Have you ever kissed someone?"

"No...I've never" Makoto gulps, trying to avoid his gaze once again, she feels the impulse in her brain, telling her to go for it. But she fights it, but she's weak, she needs to compose himself, a quick trip to the bathroom to wash her face should suffice "I-If you'll excuse me, I-"

She had no time to react, how would she have reacted if she had the time?

Well, that question didn't matter. All that mattered was one thing

Ren Amamiya was kissing her

Her eyes were wide while his were closed, he was leaning into it while she was there, completely upright with her back as straight up as a metal pole. There was a smoky taste off his lips, she figured it must be from all that coffee and curry...

She didn't know how long it lasted, but when it did end, he looked dead into her eyes for a split second before snapping his head away

"I'm sorry" He said, his voice full of regret "I...shouldn't have done that"

"You..." Makoto gulped "How could you do that to me?"

Ren eyes slammed shut and his teeth clenched. He knew it, that was a big mistake, a huge mistake, the biggest mistake, he'd ruined everything. Makoto would never-

"You stole my chance" Makoto said, prompting him to look at her, and see the look in her eyes "I wanted to kiss you first"

"Wha-"

Now it was his turn to be frozen, he couldn't even flinch as Makoto shot forward and placed her lips to his. She leaned further and further into it, placing her hands on his face, pulling him closed towards her. He felt like he was melting into her, her lips were a level of soft he didn't think possible

She tasted sweet, was it strawberries? Whatever it was, he was okay with it. So okay with it, that he begins to lean into it, now kissing her right back. They're so close now that he can feel her heartbeat pounding against his chest.

"Makoto..." He moans softly against her before grasping the back of her head to pull her closer. They exhale though their nose as their breaths began to fade away. Makoto stops to take in air.

Ren acts on instinct and takes the moment to enter his tongue in her mouth

She welcomes it

The two sat there, making out for what felt like years. They could feel each others bodies reacting. Makoto's nubs were practically about to pierce through her bra and shirt at this point and an ever-so-slight dampness sat there between her legs. The buttons on the crotch of Ren pants were about to fly off.

Both all things must end, and eventually, the two break apart and stare into each others eyes

"I've wanted to do that for a long time" Ren admits with a steady voice "I had no idea you wanted to..."

"Well then, looks like we were both stupid" Makoto says with a slight sniff, granting a smirk from Ren "Being a couple of fools who somehow missed how the other felt..."

...

"What now?" Ren asks, electing a confused look from Makoto "What...are _we_?"

"I...don't know" Makoto admits but then gives him a hopeful look "So we'll find out together, okay?"

"Right" Ren nods with a smile "But I kinda have a good idea what we'll find..."

Makoto smiles right back at him, pressing her forehead right against his and looking him directly in the eye

"Can...can we kiss again?" She asks with a slight hint of embarrassment

"We're never going to get any studying done at this rate" Ren smirks at her, closing his eyes and moving his lips towards her

"Well..." She exhales "Perhaps we can..._study _things we don't have experience in y-"

"I'm home"

"S-SIS!" Makoto yelps out of her skin as she leaps to her feet, any arousal both teens were feeling were gone in a flash.

"What's with that reaction?" Sae asked before spotting the mop of black hair at the table "Uh..."

"H-He's a friend" Makoto gulped "We were just...studying"

"You brought a friend over?" Sae asked in surprise, Makoto hadn't done so in a long time, and never a boy...

"I'm..." Ren declared as he stood up and turned to her

"Ren Amamiya, we've met" Sae reminded

"Oh, r-right" Ren gulped

"It's getting pretty late" Sae states as she looks at her watch "Shouldn't you be heading home Amamiya-kun?"

"Uh, he can't" Makoto tried to explain "His caretaker-"

"No, it's fine" Ren nodded "It's 8 o'clock, by the time I get back to Yongenjaya, it should be okay"

_"It's THAT late?!" Makoto gasped "How long was that kiss?!"_

"I'll walk you back to the station" Makoto offers as Ren packs his books away

"That's okay" Ren says to her

"No, I insist, it's not that far" Makoto denies his request before turning to Sae "Is that okay Sis?"

"I suppose that's fine" Sae nods, find Makoto's eagerness unusual "Just be careful"

* * *

"You didn't have to do this" Ren says with a smile as two await his train

"It's fine, you seemed pretty tired after our..._studying_" Makoto says with a smile and slight blush

"Here it comes" Ren notes, spotting the approaching train, Makoto seems disappointed it's already here "Well, I suppose I'm heading back now"

"Y'know, we can..._study _tomorrow" Makoto says with a shy tug of his arm "And if you're too busy, you can just...call me"

"I will..." Ren smiles as he once again moves his lips toward hers again, this time she happily accepts his touch with a smile. Both teens enjoy the embrace until the train doors open, when they pull apart "See you tomorrow then..."

* * *

"I'm back" Makoto notes as she hangs her jacket up "Sorry, I'll get dinner started"

"You know, your friend...has quite a reputation" Sae told her, Makoto froze in place "I didn't want to say in front of him, but I've heard more than a few things about him, how he-"

"Ren didn't do any of those things" Makoto said to her sister as she looked her dead in the eye

"Even so, hanging around with someone like that may deter your social status" Sae informs "That won't be good when you're looking for colleges"

"Let people judge...I don't care" Makoto says to her

"You-" Sae began to raise her voice, she could tell that a rant would be on the way, Makoto didn't want to hear it.

"Sis, even if the whole world's his enemy, I won't turn my back on him" Makoto puts her foot down, making sure that Sae gets the message

...

"Let me ask..." Sae ask with narrowed eyebrows "This boy...what is he to you?"

Makoto just lets out a small chuckle and looks at Sae with smile

"He's my study partner"


	10. Pajamas

_Set in the same universe as Chapter 5_

* * *

They were just too cute...

The soft black and white fabric was cuddly and fuzzy, and there was a big fluffy ball of cotton stitched onto the bottom, there was a hood featuring two stubby black ears and even the feet and mittens were shaped like paws

Pajama's never looked so adorable

Scooping her baby up, Makoto wrapped her arms around her little frame, feeling the warm fuzz between her fingers and on her cheek. Makoto snuggled warmly against her, while Maya chewed on her shoulder with her toothless gums

"Makoto?"

Absorbed in pure delight, she hardly heard Ren call out to her, she sighed dreamily

"Makoto!"

Her dream was shattered by her husbands harsh voice, why was he still here? He and Ryuji were supposed to be having a _boys night out _as they called it

"I thought you left already" She said, burying her baby into her chest and hugging her close to hide the jammies

"He just cancelled, says he's come down with something" Ren sighed, rubbing the back of his frizzy black mop of hair "Really, he and Ann are expecting soon, I just don't think he wants to be apart from her for long"

"Well you were the same with me!" Makoto said with a fake chuckle as she stood up, fully intending to make a quick exit, but for some reason pivoting to the left caused the tiny little panda in her arms to giggle and pat her mother with her tiny paw shaped mittens

"Why is Maya still awake?" Ren frowned

There was a moment where she gulped loudly, desperately searching for an excuse...

"Uh...I put her to bed...but she woke up!" Makoto said "She was hungry! But I've fed her, so I'm just putting her back to bed!"

"Hey! At least let me say good night!" Ren whined as he quickly pulled Makoto into a backwards embrace.

Makoto gulped as she was now trapped between a squirming baby and her husbands arms which were now running all over her body, of all times to try and be romantic...

Their baby girl giggled, as if to laugh at her plight

And then...

"Makoto..."

Moving his hands up and down, it's only natural he'd eventually grab a feel of a fuzzy foot

"Why is my daughter...furry?"

Finally she was released from his grasp, but he immediately moved to try and see in front of her

"They're just jammies" Makoto said quickly, trying to hide Maya "Nothing fuzzy or furry abo-"

"Are those..._Buchimaru-kun_ pajamas?"

And now the picture was clear as day, Maya's adorable little smile would normally warm his heart, but not when it looked like she was literally wearing one of Makoto's Buchimaru plushies with a little panda hood

"NO! They-I-she-" The words stuck in Makoto's throat

"Our daughter has a cotton tail!" Ren whined

"It's cute!" Makoto pouted

"It's not cute when your mother takes photos of you in pajamas and goes around showing all of her friends" Ren groaned "When did you even buy them?"

"They were a gift!"

"_From_...?"

"..."

Makoto sighed in defeat

Or at least she would've, had a thought not occurred to her

"Ren?"

"What?"

"Did...did your mother dress you up in cute pajamas too?"

Silence.

Maya yawned. Ren refused to look his wife or child in the eye. His shoulders were scrunched up, his eyes squeezed shut and his head tilted to the floor

"Ren?"

He cursed under his breath

"Oh my god, she did!" Makoto gasped

"Did not" Ren mumbled

"Is that why you don't like Buchimaru-kun?!" Makoto gasped "Did your mother dress you up as Buchimaru-kun when you were a baby and show pictures to her friends?!"

"No! I don't like Buchimaru-kun because he's a cockblocking ass-"

"Language!" Makoto snapped as she covered Maya's ears to the best of her ability. Ren's demeanor faulted to the point he was now red in the face

"Beside, it...it wasn't Buchimaru" Ren gulped, looking as far away from her as he could "It was...it was Coco-san"

"Coco-san, the bunny mascot?!" Makoto gasped, her jaw wide open as the revelation that there existed photos of her husband dressed up as a fuzzy bunny out there. She'd have to ask her mother-in-law about that whenever they meet up next

"I swear, if you tell a single soul..." Ren grimaced

"Your secret's safe with me" Makoto said with a smug smirk

After much _persuasion_ and self restraint, Ren was convinced his (mortifying) secret was safe, all the while Maya kicked and cooed cheerfully, flapping her furry arms vigorously. She opened her mouth and let out a loud yawn

"Don't worry" Makoto smiled as she placed a kiss on Ren's cheek "It's not Buchi-kun I love the most, but the Amamiya's under all that fluff and fuzz"


	11. Psychic

_After this chapter, I'm dropping the one word title format I've been using for the chapter titles. I'm also going to go back to some older chapters and give them better names_

_I'm also disabling Guest comments since some dumbass left a review asking me to update a fic I discontinued 9 years ago_

* * *

_Edit: September 9, corrected a small error where I wrote 60,000 yen instead of 6,000. That's...not really a discount, is it?_

* * *

"Oh Amamiya-kun!"

"Mifune-san" Ren greets, waving with his free hand, the other wrapped intertwined with Makoto's fingers

"Oh, is this a friend of yours?" Chihaya asks before noticing they're holding hands, something that definitely indicated that they were more than friends

"Not quite" Ren chuckled "Mifune-san, this is Makoto Niijima, my girlfriend. Makoto this is Chihaya Mifune, she's helped me a lot"

"Oh, is she one of your confidants you keep mentioning?" Makoto asks, stifling her blush as she still wasn't used to Ren casually referring to her as his girlfriend, a small nod from him confirms this.

"Girlfriend...I see" Chihaya mutters, Makoto could swear that she sounded sad when she voiced that out loud "If I'm not interrupting, may I give you a reading? I'll give you a discount if you both go"

"What'd you think?" Ren asks

"I don't know..." Makoto ponders, avoiding looking at either at him "If I'm being honest, I-"

"You're a skeptic aren't you?" Chihaya interrupts, Makoto shoots her a slightly guilty look in response "If you let me, I could tell you personal details about yourself that no one else knows to prove my abilities"

Makoto is wide-eyed at her offer, Ren looks at her with a slight smirk and offers to pay for her

"No it's fine, I can pay for myself" Makoto shakes her head

"It's 10,000 yen per reading" Chihaya informs, Makoto's stomach drops "But since I offered a special discount, I'll let you off with 6,000 for today, each of course"

_"I was saving this money" _Makoto sighs as she reaches into her wallet

"I told you, I got it" Ren stops her, reaching into his own wallet

"Really, it's fine" Makoto now stops _him_, digging more bills out of the Buchimaru shaped folder

"You're gonna bankrupt yourself, you need that money, I got plenty to spare" Ren said in a slightly critical tone that she didn't appreciate, but before she can protest, he's already handed Chihaya the wad of cash.

"That's 12,000 yen!" Makoto exclaims, how could he casually just throwaway such a major amount?

"Thank you" Chihaya smiles as she places the money in pocket in her shirt "Makoto-san, I'd like to read you first since you're new after all"

Makoto looks at Ren, she's a bit angry since he so casually threw away his money, but with a defeated sneer, she places her money back and takes a seat across from Chihaya

"I can't read minds, I can simply tell you what the future holds for you. I see events of both the past and the future" Chihaya informs her with a serious look, Makoto nods "Now then..."

Makoto raises her eyebrow at the set of tarot cards laid out on the desk, 21 laid before her. Chihaya reaches over and turns over one

"Judgement" Chihaya reads

"Am...I supposed to know what that means?" Makoto gulps

"The Judgement Arcana represents rebirth, a second-chance. Has their been anyone in your life who has re-formed their ways?"

"Sis..." Makoto gasps softly before Chihaya turns over another one, this time one marked The Hermit

"The Hermit suggests that you are in a phase of reflection, where you are drawing your attention inwards and looking for answers within." Chihaya explains "You are in need of a period of inner reflection, away from the current demands of your position."

"Do you mean...I need to relax my duties as Student Council President, because they're in the way of my concentration that I need for my entrance exams?"

"Only you can truly know that" Chihaya educates her

_"Some psychic you are"_ Makoto grumbles as Chihaya turns over another

"The High Priestess" Chihaya states "The High Priestess faces us head on, challenging us to seek truth to our deepest desires from what we know already. The scroll she holds, representing knowledge and the lunar crescent above her, representing inner emotions are testaments to her pursuit for knowledge from within. Her calm presence shall guide you to the knowledge you already possess"

"Knowledge I already possess?" Makoto ponders, Chihaya can see no answer coming her way so she reaches over and flips over another card

"The Fool represents new beginnings, having faith in the future, being inexperienced, not knowing what to expect, having beginner's luck, improvisation and believing in the universe." Chihaya tells her "It means you are ready for the beginning of a new journey in your life, there may be trials and tribulation in the way, but you are prepared to do whatever it takes"

"I...am?" Makoto questions both Chihaya and herself

"In conclusion..." Chihaya begins to lead "People around you are changing, perhaps for the better. And even though you are preparing for the uncertain future, you know fine well that what you have will last until the end"

Makoto's cheeks turn red at this, it doesn't take a genius to figure out what she means. She tilts her eyes to gather Ren's reaction. He had the same slight blush as her, along with a slight glint of joy on his face, but at the same time, there's a hint of worry in there.

"That concludes our session" Chihaya shatters Makoto's stunned state "Amamiya-kun? You're next"

_"6,000 Yen for two minutes?"_ Makoto gripes as she stands up and Ren takes a seat

She paces back and forth slightly, pondering the words the psychic gave her. In the process, missing out on Ren's session. Only catching the end of Chihaya's words

"Though many may yearn, only one is your true haven." Chihaya reads "But the question of whether or not your greatest fear is unfounded is one I cannot answer"

_"Greatest fear?"_ Makoto questions

"I see..." Ren nods as he stands up "Come on Makoto"

"Ren?" Makoto asks as her boyfriend begins to depart

"Thank you for your patronage" Chihaya waves as the two disappear from view

"Ren wait!" Makoto calls out as Ren paces infront of her "What did she say?"

"A lot of things" Ren says as he finally stops pacing

"So tell me..." Makoto says, swatting his arm lightly "What'd she say that's got you so upset?"

She looks at his eyes and see's a look of sadness and even a little bit of panic is in there. Makoto feels bad now, whatever Chihaya had told him had really gotten to him

"Ren?"

"When she read you, she said what you had would _last until the end_" Ren quoted Chihaya as he looked Makoto in the eye

"So?" Makoto eggs on

"_So_...don't you think that sounded kinda ambiguous?" Ren sighed "So I asked her...if...if she could see..."

"What did you ask?" Makoto asks in a soft whisper, she can't tear her eyes away from the pained look in his "Was it _your_ _greatest fear_?"

"Yeah" Ren says, and for a few moments, the hustle and bustle of the busy street is the only noise.

"What is your worst fear?" Makoto breaks the silence

"You"

"Huh?" Makoto reacts with surprise

"My biggest fear is losing you" Ren looks at her with a pained look in his eyes "My biggest fear is losing you and you...being with someone other than me, that thought...it's the one thing I can never live with"

...

"You asked her...if we would ever break up..." Makoto mutters quietly "And she couldn't tell?"

"Yeah..." Ren practically whispers, preparing to take a deep breath, until Makoto suddenly grabbed him in a hug, squeezing the breath out of him "M-Makoto?!"

"I will never leave you" Makoto whispers softly to him, she notices the pair are getting quite a few stares from onlookers from their public display but she doesn't care

"Makoto..." Ren mutters in the softest voice

"You mean more to me than anyone else in the whole world" Makoto says looking him dead in the eye before getting up on her toes and placing a small, loving kiss on his forehead "So don't you dare begin to doubt that just because some _psychic_ isn't 100% we'll make it"

"Her predictions...are usually accurate" Ren says softly

"She didn't say if we'd make it, but she didn't say we _didn't_ make it either" Makoto informs him "But no one makes our fate but us, and _I s_ay, we make it!"

"Makoto..." Ren says, eyes wide as she leans back towards him and places the most gentle kiss on his lips, he kisses her back before the two pull away

"I will never leave you, or be with anyone other than you" Makoto says in a low serious, heartfelt voice. Ren stares at her for a moment before replying

"You...mean everything to me" Ren says to her, looking directly into her eyes

"Then stop worrying about what some street con thinks about our relationship" Makoto smiles as she takes his hand and pulls him away

"She's actually really nice when you get to know her"

"I'm sure" Makoto smirks as the two walk down the street hand-in-hand

_"You don't have to worry about anything__" Makoto says "But she was right about one thing, this will last until the end, the end of time, I will always be with you"_


	12. Police Party

_Set in the same universe as Chapter 3_

* * *

Makoto looks at Ren as they enter the doors to the lavish venue. Both were dressed in their fanciest wears. Ren donned in a fancy black suit with a red shirt sans a tie, and Makoto was wearing a fancy blue dress with a black belt around the waistline, the neckline was adorned with black frill and dipped low enough to show just the slightest hint of cleavage.

"Makoto, please don't disappear on me tonight" Ren asks for the fifth time since they parked the car. He can't help feeling uneasy about being around police, even if they were Makoto's co-workers.

"I promise" Makoto sighs, getting annoyed with him

"Thanks" Ren says, gifting her with a small smile before he turns his attention to the large hall they've entered "So...where do we go?"

"I'm not sure either" Makoto sighs "I've never been invited to the Captain's birthday parties before, maybe we should ask around"

It's then that Ren notices he's getting curious glances from some guests, specifically stares at his frizzy hair, which in fairness he did attempt to clean up for the evening and was...moderately successful, and stares that ate at his and Makoto's interlocked hands

"I'm getting quite a few looks" Ren muttered

"Well, you are my husband" Makoto sighs "Quite a few people tonight are interested in meeting you"

"Why's that?" Ren asks with a raised eyebrow

"Well..." Makoto gulps "You've become something of a tale around the precinct"

Ren can only shoot her a confused look

"I've...had to turn down a few people. Some people have been interested in me and asked me out, but obviously I'm with you so to let them down easy, I tell them that I'm married" Makoto informs him, earning her a shocked look from Ren "I try to be nice about it but...more than once, I've had to raise my voice since they didn't believe me. _Makoto Niijima's_ _illustrious husband_ has become something of a urban legend among my co-workers. I was transferred here shortly after coming back from maternity leave, so they don't believe I'm a mother either..."

"And you never mentioned this why?" Ren asks with a glare

"Because you get offended at this slightest hint of anyone else being attracted to me" Makoto groans as she begins to pull him away "Come on, it's the Police Captain's birthday, he's a good man, I'd think you'd like him"

"You've mentioned that" Ren hums, Makoto had informed him several times that her boss was a kindly old man

"He thinks the same of you" Makoto says, looking at him with pride "I've told him all about you, and how you're a great Dad with Maya"

Ren looks at her, and notices her look. She's happy to be here with him, looking at him like he's the most wonderful thing in the world. He's seen the look before, but it still makes his heart race every time.

As they make their way to what seems to be the main hall. Ren begins to sweat. First of all, he can count on one hand the amount of names of Makoto's co-workers he knows. Second of all, given what Makoto just told him, he feels like he's going to be interrogated tonight, even though he was fine with Makoto's career path, he still feels unease around police due to the negligence and abuse he suffered from them in the past.

At least he's there with Makoto. That's his only comforting thought. That's why he's told her countless time that she can't disappear on him tonight. It's never fun being at a party where you don't know anyone. Before Ren knows it, they're smack-dab in the middle of a large ballroom with the celebrations going on full-force.

"Niijima!" Someone yells, Makoto scans the room and spots a young strawberry-blonde haired girl walking towards her

"Takahashi-san! How is Captain Yamaji?" Makoto asks as Ren stands next to her, pressing into her side. Makoto realizes why, as the girl is completely focused on him.

"Not too tipsy, thankfully" Takahashi keeps staring at Ren, who at this point is extremely uncomfortable with her staring. Makoto only notices this as Ren repeatedly bumps into her side

"Oh, where are my manners?" Makoto fake chuckles as she's decided to break the tension "Ren, this is Rumi Takahashi, an officer here. Tachiban-san, this is Ren Amamiya, my husband"

"It's...nice to meet you" Ren gulps, still feeling a tad uncomfortable at how her eyes haven't left her

"Well I'll be! You are real!" Tachibana says with a small blush and a large smile "All of us here thought Niijima-senpai was making it up! Thanks for not holdin' anything against my brother for all those years. He can be a jerk"

"Your brother?" Ren questions before he ponders over her last name. He knows it sound familiar, didn't he meet someone named Taka-

...

About 10 years ago, when he and Makoto were walking through Shibuya, they were confronted by a man claiming to be an old friend of hers. He bragged about his career, his bank account and tried to drag Makoto away to give her a tour of his building and even said he'd take her out to dinner.

When Ren batted his arm away from her as he tried to grab her arm, he got _pissed_. He started screaming not to interfere, Ren's rebuttal was to tell him to get the hell away from his girlfriend. Upon that revelation, he broke down in a screaming fit about why the hell would Makoto go for someone like him when there were rich successful people like himself in the world and then he said directly to Ren's face to get lost because Makoto was _his _now

Ren then stared dead into the bastards eyes and uttered the most brutal words that have ever left the human mouth and promptly put the fear of Satanael into him, sending him running away, crying like a coward

That's man's name was;

"Touya Takahashi" Ren seethed

"That's him" Rumi laughed "There's no hard feelings, honestly. Dad didn't really give a damn about me, it was all Touya growing up. Thanks for putting the fear into him"

"You're...welcome?" Ren says, feeling more embarrassed

"You should have some drinks and say hello, everyone is excited to see you both!" Rumi gushes before she runs off to gloat to the others that she met Ren first

"You should lighten up" Makoto smiles "Why don't you grab a drink and then we go say hello to the Captain? I'll drive us home tonight"

Ren sighs and nods to her suggestion. She manages to pull him over fairly quickly

"Makoto?" Ren asks as Makoto hands him a drink

"Hmm?" She asks

"This is even more uncomfortable than I'd thought it'd be" Ren says with a scowl before he takes a long swig of the drink she gave to him

"Relax, I admit Takahashi can be excitable, but she meant well. That's probably the worst it will get." Makoto says, not adding what she's thinking. _I hope._

"Forgive me if I'm not as optimistic as you are about that." Ren says, taking another big gulp of his beverage.

"You're already almost done with that. Why don't you finish it and I'll grab you a new one." Makoto says as Ren does as she instructs. She grabs him a fresh drink before they start to head towards Yamaji and Ren stays right at her side. Makoto smiles. She enjoys this, it almost feels like when they began dating. She doesn't want him to go away from her, they're at a party, as a couple. It feels wonderful.

"Ahh Niijima-chan!" An old man in suit calls out to them "How nice it is to see you both here!"

"Happy Birthday Captain" Makoto smiles, Ren sheepishly mouthing along

"This must be him" He smiled at Ren "The fabled _Mr._ Niijima"

Ren notices that several people in hearing distance have become quiet and are listening to their conversation...

_"Holy shit, Niijima actually IS married..."_

_"That's the guy, really? Looks like he's never touched a hairbrush in his life"_

_"Makoto-chan went for HIM?"_

_"This sucks, I lost out to that guy?"_

"It's...Amamiya. Ren Amamiya" Ren says with a hearty sigh, meekly holding out his hand which Yamaji firmly grasps

"A pleasure!" Yamaji smiles, Ren can't help but to return the smile

Makoto gives him a small bow before stepping away for someone else to be able to talk to him. She notices that Ren's glass is nearly empty and she leads him back by the drinks. She snags him up one and exchanges it for his nearly empty glass.

"I told him about when you were arrested as a teenager for stopping Shido" Makoto admits "He felt really bad about it, that the justice system failed you. He also was really impressed with you, he said he could see exactly why I felt so connected to you. He said that he could tell there was a warmth to you"

Ren takes a moment to think of a reply, he just sighs when he can't think of one

"I know you're not comfortable" Makoto sighs back "We won't be here long, just an hour or so"

"Give me one minute, and then we can rejoin the party." Ren says, taking a large swig before putting the glass down. He takes Makoto's hand and they head back for the party. Once there, they walk around mingling with people and Ren nearly jumps out of his skin when an older, bustier woman throws one arm around his shoulder and her other around Makoto

"Hi you two! Are you having fun?" She asks with a drunken laugh. Makoto smiles at her and Ren looks at her apprehensively.

"Hi, Orikasa-san!" Makoto says smiling at her drunk friend. "Ren, this is-"

"REN?! This is Ren?!" Orikasa gasps loudly before looking over at Makoto with a large smile "Does this mean Maya-chan is real too?!"

"Y-Yes, our daughter is real" Makoto nods with slight apprehension

_"N-No way, they have a kid too?!"_

Ren looks at the source of the voice, once again, several people in hearing distance were listening to their conversation. He notices a young looking officer looking somberly at them, he can only assume he had a massive crush on Makoto and all of his hopes and dreams of being with her were shattered in that one moment at the revelation that she's a married mother.

Ren finds it hard not to sneer at him, but onto more pressing matters...

"Please let go" Ren wheezes at Orikasa's arm is directly around his neck

"It's a party! Don't forget to have fun!" Orikasa orders before letting him go and putting her hand on his head, ruffling his hair. Ren doesn't like that at all.

"We were just heading over to get more drinks." Makoto explains. Orikasa lets go and shoves her towards the bar area.

"Good idea. Someone needs to mellow out and have some fun!" She says, giving a pointed look at Ren.

"Makoto!" Ren calls out, the one thing he didn't want was to be left alone tonight.

Ren glances around the room, he notices a few looks he's getting, some of amusement, some of resentment, no doubt from Makoto's "admirers"

"Yo"

Speaking of...

Ren looks at the man, he's a tall, clean-cut, handsome guy, maybe a few years old than him

"Can I help you?" Ren asks

"You're Niijima's husband?" He sneers

"Indeed I am" Ren sighs, is this guy for real?

"Y'know, I really thought he she was lying" He laughs "I gotta admit, when she described you, I figured there's no way in hell she'd actually be with a guy like that"

"Well she is" Ren nods, he'd like that to be the end of the conversation, but the guy doesn't seem to be letting him go any time soon

"It's just..._you_?" He laughs, Ren is starting to lose his patience

"Yes, _me,_ no one else, she's with _me_" Ren says in a slightly lower tone of voice, he can tell that's struck a nerve "Has been for for 10 years, now, we're married, got a kid, and even a cat"

"Maybe that's just 'cause you just met her first" He sleazes back

"Or maybe it's because he's my one and only"

The two turn their attention to the voice, much to Ren's relief, Makoto has returned

"Ren is the love of my life, if I didn't meet him in high school, then I would've waited for him" Makoto says, hooking her arm around his. Her words are clearly cutting deep into the guy "I could never be with anyone else"

With the last of her words, she places a short but loving kiss on his lips. His _rival_ is visibly upset

"Don't you have better things to do rather than intimidate my husband Motomiya-san?" Makoto asks, he doesn't respond, just excuses himself with a short _hmph_. Makoto turns to Ren with an apologetic look "I'm sorry, Orikasa dragged me over even when I told her I wasn't drinking tonight, what happened?"

"Just a _passionate _member of your fan-club" Ren groans "I wanna go home..."

"I know" Makoto sighs, rubbing his back. But both jump as music begins to play. They look out to the middle of the hall and notice officers bringing their spouses onto the floor. Makoto and Ren look at each other for a second before making their way out there

"We haven't danced in a while" Makoto smiles at him

"Is this what you have been waiting for?" Ren asks her as he pulls her close to him. Makoto nods, and she places her hands on his shoulders. He puts his hands loosely around her lower back, and Makoto lays her head on his chest. She's feeling breathless from how close they are, and how romantic it feels to be dancing with him like this.

"I don't want this moment to end," Makoto whispers so softly that Ren doesn't hear her, but he feels the same way.

"This is nice," Ren says softly, but Makoto just lets out a breathless sigh, that makes him think she feels the exact same way.

Everyone in the room can see how happy the couple looks, and neither Ren or Makoto notice everyone noticing, since they're so caught up in each other. Ren half closes his eyes, and just concentrates on the girl in his arms.

Suddenly the entire night feels perfect…and both of them feel it, just how wonderful it is to hold the one you love so close. Ren just keeps on smiling.

* * *

"Hello there, my little angel" Makoto smiles at the sleeping Maya in the crib. They'd just got back home and Ren was paying the nanny they hired. She reaches down and gently brushes her baby's cheek. For a second, she wonders what she's dreaming of, but then figures it doesn't matter, as long as it's a happy dream.

"Hey" Ren says softly as he walks into the room, he peers down at his sleeping baby and smiles. He leans on her crib and looks right at her "That's it sweetheart, you have a nice, long sleep. And you dream some lovely dreams. Dream about Christmas and all the presents that Santa Claus is gonna bring you, because a little baby like you is gonna be right at the top of his VIP list."

"I can't believe how much differently I look at life, now that we have her in it" Makoto says warmly to her husband "I love you..."

"I love you..." Ren says right back, before they embrace "And Maya just makes ours lives that much better"

"Well that's good" Makoto whispers "Because that means it's about to get even better"

"Huh?" Ren questioned, Makoto smiles warmly and places her hand on her stomach

"I didn't drink tonight, I said it was because I'd drive us back tonight, but really..." She says softly "There was another reason"

It takes less than a second for Ren to put two and two together

"Y-You're pregnant?" He gasps sharply before breaking out into large smile, tears are beginning to well up in both of their eyes

"We should start thinking of names…" Makoto whispers back. Ren happily wraps her into a warm hug, and places a large kiss on her lips

_No matter how I'm judged or how others feel about me. It doesn't matter, so long as I get to be with you, Makoto_


	13. A Lustful First Time

_Right, so; _**WARNING! **_This one is PURE SMUT. Literally 100% kinky fetish sex_

_If you are, for whatever reason, offended by:_

*** Loss of Virginity**

*** Public Sex/Exhibitionism/Streaking**

*** Spanking**

*** Depravity**

_Then you're better off skipping this chapter._

* * *

It happened after a recent battle with another powerful shadow in Mementos. He fought it, while she watched. She didn't know why, but she felt so embarrassed, like he was fighting for her.

But the real reason? Even though they were always surrounded by their friends, she couldn't help but ogle at him. He's normally stoic but when he gets fired up, his hot temper is just a turn-on. It's a weird turn-on but hey she can't help it.

And she knows that when he runs behind her, he's checking out her butt. She knows that's he's enthralled with her wide hips, and is constantly fighting the urge to save those luscious cheeks of hers a nice, big _squeeze_

Making out had been the limit of their relationship so far, a small dip under her shirt to feel her back had been the most skin they'd shown to each other, but both were aware that _it_ would be soon, they were two consenting teenagers in love after all, both wanted to explore the others body and let the other explore theirs.

It was late by the time they left Mementos, thankfully Sae was sleeping at the office tonight, so they'd be no concerned calls wondering where the hell her baby sister was. Sojiro had long locked up LeBlanc too, but thankfully Ren had keys. Neither were tired despite the late hour, they were too full of adrenaline from the battle for that. They were however, coated in sweat and full of testosterone

Their friends said their goodbyes and boarded their trains, leaving the two alone. However, neither of the two wanted to go home. Both were too full of adrenaline right now. The announcement for her train coming into the station played over the intercom, but she didn't even react to it. She and Ren just stood there in silence. Ren was being unusually quiet and it made her even more nervous. She glanced over, and she knew he was watching her, as if wondering why she was acting up.

"Hey Makoto" Ren says, she glanced up to see him staring at her confused, but happy?

"Huh?" Makoto murmured. She thought she looked like such a fool, staring at him. it. His hair was tousled, and his sweaty top was showing just enough for a little imagination to be all she needed. She gaped but closed her mouth just as he noticed.

"Are you going home?" Was his simple question, well, not simple, since right now that question could have two very distinct meanings.

"Why do you ask?" She questioned nervously, trying to sound more convincing, but the way he was looking at her wiped away all of her confidence. She was just noticing now, it was dark outside, with no one around. At this moment, the both of them might as well have been the only two people in the world

He didn't reply, instead he put his fingers to Makoto's mouth and hushed her, then removed them quickly to claim her mouth. He was rough and he tasted so good. His arms tightened around her, almost lifting her up. She gripped his shoulders as he continuously kissed her, rough and lovingly. She kissed back with as much roughness, and he grunted. As they broke apart, they found themselves out of breath. His breath fanned her face as he too panted. She'd never seen him pant this much. He bent his lips back to hers and teasingly brushed against it. She moaned and almost greedily, pulled him to her.

She could feel his arousal brushing against her leg, not that she was any different. There was a dampness that sat between her legs and her nipples were hard enough to cut diamond that this point.

He almost fell over from the way she came onto him. Her mind was blank as she just thought _more, more, more_. She couldn't get enough of him and he probably knew it. She wanted to know why though, before it got too far. She lightly pushed him. He whined teasingly, and she giggled to see his lips, bruised from their kissing. Makoto blushed and twisted her fingers together, getting nervous.

Quiet. Then he started to light laugh. Turning to him, she felt embarrassed and a little mad. Why he would be making fun of her now of all times?

"What's so funny?" Makoto pressed at him. He smiled, coming toward her and taking her hand into his.

"Because you make me this way", he said as he pulled Makoto tightly into his arm, and she felt his need for her brush her thigh. Strangely she thought she would be scared, but she was suddenly even more turned on. Growing bolder, Makoto pushed into him, to hear him whine once again. She loved that sound now.

God, she just wanted to...

"Ren, let's go home" She commanded, his face fell a bit at her command

"R-Right" He nodded with a gulp as he let her go "Sorry, I guess I went too fa-"

"No. Ren?" She cut him off, he looked directly at her with a quizzing look "Let's go to _your _home"

"Y-You mean..." He gulped sharply as the sweat poured even more now. Were they finally going to...

"Let's go" She cut him off, taking him by the hand and dragging him into the train that'd take them to Yongenjaya.

The train ride was bitter agony, a long wait until they finally reached their destination, but the instant the doors opened, they were off. Darting off like a predator chasing its prey. LeBlanc was empty, not even Morgana was with them, it was all theirs tonight and they knew what they wanted to do all night.

When the familiar coffee shop came into view, Ren yanked the keys out and immediately located the right one. Unlocking the door like a master locksmith. He didn't make it all the way in the door until he was tackled to the floor by a warm body. He gave out a small squeak as he found himself on the floor, with a warm, sexy, powerful, and unusually bold Makoto on top of him

Was it his birthday or what?

He shot his upper body up and locked lips with her again. Nipping at her neck, he found her weak spot and licked it. When she felt his wet warm tongue on her neck, Makoto almost jumped up. He was so good at what he was doing. He quickly undid the top buttons of her shirt, exposing her bra, he immediately dipped his tongue into the valley between her breasts, before in a savage move, grabbing the bra with his fist, ripping it clean off, and exposing her breasts.

Makoto gasped at his actions, for starters, that was a perfectly good bra that had gone to waste. So much for foreplay

And this was their first real glimpse at each others bodies, this was the first time she'd ever exposed her body to someone else, it was exciting, but she was still intimidated

_Then_ there was the fact that the doors was still open and a good half of her body was still outside the shop. She could feel the cool night air brush her bare chest and it made her even more aroused. She began to wonder if they were even going to make it to bed, were they just going to do it here? Or were they about to indulge in exhibitionism and get naked and just do it in the streets of Yongenjaya?

She gasped as Ren plopped his mouth onto her nipple, suckling and licking her hard nub while teasing the other by flicking it repeatedly with his finger. She covered her mouth to stop her moaning, again, the door was still open. If anyone walked by right now, they'd see their display.

Biting her lip, she reached over and with a mighty pull, tore open his shirt. It isn't fair that only he gets to tease, so she takes her fingers and clamps down on his nipples. He gasped, he's lucky it's late at night, because he could be heard the next street over. It was talking all Makoto could do to keep from moaning. She pushed his head to keep him there as he suckled her breast, asking for more, but not knowing what she really wanted. But despite that, he pulled away, looked her dead in the eye and said four words that shook her

"I'm getting you naked"

With that, he undid the rest of the buttons before he grabbed her shirt by the shoulders and yanked it down, removing it and leaving her upper body completely exposed. Before she could even react, he shoved her off him, causing her to fall back onto the asphalt outside, now she really was outside. Before she could even react though, Ren grabbed her skirt and pulled if off, throwing it back into Leblanc, he then, without missing a beat, grabbed them hem of her leggings and yanked them down, removing her shoes in the process, leaving her solely in a pair of white panties.

"Ren we're outside" She reminded him "I-"

_RIPPPP_

Grabbing the side of them with both hands, Ren snapped the elastic and literally ripped Makoto's panties off, reducing them to shreds which he promptly threw away. And there she was, totally naked before him. She was clean shaven down there. She was a student of Aikido afterall, pubic hair would just lead to chaffing

Makoto was scared, being outside naked had made her feel more defenseless than she ever had in her life. She wanted to tell him to pick her up, take her in and lock the door.

But the instant Ren's mouth claimed her womanhood, all that fear was gone and all that was left was pure, passionate arousal

Fuck it, maybe the exhibitionists are onto something...

She screamed, and if it weren't for her teeth clamping tightly on her lips, the whole neighborhood would've heard. He kept licking and slurping, whispering things to her she thought he never used at all.

"You taste so good" Ren moaned at her before he smirked and went back down. He had thrust his tongue in her, using his fingers to flick and squeeze her rock hard nipples. Makoto felt like she was going to explode. She grabbed the back of his head to push him further in.

But he suddenly let go, leaving a trail of saliva within her. He smirked as Makoto let out a whine at him. Ren leaned down to her and kissed her nose whispering such dirty words she never thought she'd hear from him

"Did you like it Makoto?" He whispered into her ear "Being naked and exposed outdoors? Being eaten out in the middle of the street? Do you want me to keep going until you cum?"

Makoto blushed, how dirty...

But oh god, was it working

"I'm not going to do anything until you ask" He teased, his hands running up and down her inner thigh "What do you want me to do, Makoto?"

She blushed. She couldn't do that, it was…too dirty. But then again that was ironic, considering she was lying naked in the middle of the street.

With a short breath, she stood up, her bare feet were dirtied by the filthy road as she stood there, right in front of him, naked as the day she was born. Her fluids practically pouring from her

"Makoto?" He questioned

"Take your clothes off" She demanded "I'm not going to be the only one naked here"

With a sly smirk, Ren complied, he stood up as he shrugged off his shirt, kicked off his shoes and socks, pulled down those plaid pants, leaving him solely in his underwear which did a poor job at hiding his throbbing erection.

Before he could make a move to take them off, she cupped him. He yelped as Makoto's hand, which looked so tiny at the moment, stroked his clothed manhood. Ren whined softly as Makoto's hand rubbed his manhood, all while she had a sly, perverted smirk on her face

At this point neither cared they were outdoors, or even if they were seen. If anything, the thrill made it more exciting. Consequences be damned.

If they were going to lose their virginity tonight, they were going to do it in the most exciting way possible

Makoto licked her lips as just like Ren did to her underwear earlier, she grabbed it by the side and ripped the fabric clean in two, leaving him completely nude. She gulped as she finally laid eyes on what she had gotten herself into. But that didn't last long, they were both going mad with lust at this point.

Ren gulped loudly as Makoto squatted down, legs apart, as she stared intently at his manhood at eye level. All the air in his lungs disappeared as she ran her finger up and down it.

"Do you want me to suck it?" She asked as if it was the most casual thing in the world "I will if you want me too"

"I want you to" Ren wheezed, god, how he'd dreamed of sliding his dick down Makoto's throat, but to his surprise Makoto shook her head

"Be specific" She demanded as she looked right at him, her mouth just centimeters from his manhood

"Suck my cock Makoto" He demanded, with an amused smirk, Makoto gladly took him into her mouth.

Ren gasped and clung to her hair, it was so warm inside of her. Was this real? Was Makoto really blowing him in the middle of the street? If it was a dream, he didn't want to wake up. Especially since Makoto just started using one of her free hands to tweak her nipple and the other to play with her clit. The fire was burning inside him and and he knew he wouldn't last long. He briefly wondered if he should tell Makoto he _really _wanted to shoot it down her throat.

Makoto's head bobbed back and forth as each time he went that little bit deeper down her throat. The pleasure wasn't all his of course as she was playing with herself. She'd been masturbating a lot recently, always thinking of him. She couldn't shower, bathe, change clothes and even lay in bed without at least a small rub of her folds. She'd open up his picture on her phone and stare at it as she imagined that her hands running all over her belonged to him. God, the lust had been building up for longer than she thought.

"Makoto" He panted as he almost lost his balance "Makoto stop, I'm going to-"

She knew, she didn't care, she wanted it

With a quiet roar, he released inside of her. Makoto gagged slightly as he filled her throat. She made sure to quickly swallow, trying not to play attention to the taste, which could best be described as _not great_.

Ren panted as slurping and suck noises continued to come from Makoto, until she finally let it exit her mouth, coughing slightly as she did. As she looked up, she was surprised than Ren had ran back into LeBlanc, he quickly exited, handing her a water bottle

"Thanks" She muttered as she sat down, now staining her naked ass on the dirty ground. She quickly made sure to down the water to clean her throat.

"Do...you wanna..." Ren lead on, pointing to the LeBlanc doorway, clearly asking her if she was done with their little exhibitionism play and she wanted to continue this inside.

...

"Y'know...if I'm seen like this, I'm dead" Makoto groaned "I'll be humiliated, I'll be kicked out of school, I'll never get into a good college or find a decent job, Sis will be furious and probably throw me out. I'll never be able to show my face in public ever again"

Ren nodded slightly, needless to say it would be bad for him to be seen like this too, he already had a bad enough reputation as it is without being _"outed" _as an exhibitionist who convinced the student council president to get naked with him in public. Sojiro and his parents would throw him to the wolves

"But right now..." Makoto sighed as she stood up "I'm too hot and bothered to give a damn"

She smiled at Ren's confusion as she approached him before locking her lips to his, the water had thankfully washed away the remnants of him within her meaning he could freely move his tongue within her as both made out until they broke for air

"I don't care if we're in the middle of the street, I want you to lick me, kiss me, fuck me, I don't care just do it" Makoto demanded to an awed Ren "If I'm going to lose my virginity tonight, I'm going to do it in the most exciting way possible"

Ren pulled Makoto up to him and kissed her roughly and with more lust, She could feel his need for her more and moaned as she began to stroke him

"I'm going to fuck you so hard you want be able to walk for a week" Ren growled into her ear

"Make it a month" Makoto demanded as she licked his earlobe "But first"

She broke away from him and turned around, making sure there was a sway to her hips as she walked away from him. She reached the wall just across from LeBlanc, just beside the small pathway that led to the launderette and the bathhouse, and then she leaned over, placing her hands on the wall and sticking her butt out as far as she could. Her glistening pussy right there for him to see

"Eat me" She demanded

...

"Be specific" He echoed with a smirk

"Lick my pussy until I cum" Makoto uttered the dirtiest word she'd ever spoke

Ren smiled as he walked over, staring diligently at that ass he'd been waiting so long to claim. God, there it was, naked out in the open, everything he'd wanted to do to it was finally there

With both hands, he finally gave it that good hard squeeze he'd been wanting to give since he first saw Makoto in her phantom thief outfit. She whined as her skin was squeezed with all grip on a man trying to crack a walnut

_CRACK!_

Speaking of crack...

She winced as there was now a glowing red hand print on her left asscheek, an identical one soon graced her right one. Ren smiled devilishly at her throbbing skin, giving the ass a good hard slap was the stuff of dreams. He briefly considered grabbing his belt to use a make-shift whip but no, he wanted to feel her throbbing, bruised flesh with his hands. Using a belt would deprive himself of the pleasure knowing that Makoto's bruised ass was caused by him and him alone. If Makoto couldn't sit down for a week, it would be because of his own two hands.

The smacks echoed as he continued to, put bluntly, beat the shit out of Makoto's ass. Tears stung her eyes but the pained pleasure was worth it in her opinion. Again, she couldn't believe that she, the diligent student council president, was getting spanked naked in the middle of the street. Love is a crazy thing

"I love these queenly cheeks" Ren panted in excitement "Do you have any idea how many times I've fantasized about spanking you? Or thrusting into you? Your ass is as hot as the sun"

Makoto moaned again, as if waiting for another explosion to erupt. She was practically begging to for Ren to dive between her legs and take her. Smiling with a glint in his eye, Ren kneeled down and finally licked Makoto's quivering pussy. Makoto drooled as Ren's tongue once again pushed into her, tasting her. He tried his hardest just not to take her right now, and make her scream his name for gods know how long. He wanted to see her squirm and beg for it like she made him earlier. He was getting turned on just thinking about it. He couldn't help it if he was a guy with raging hormones, Makoto seemed fine with it. Laughing at that comment, he slid his arms to her hips, only to cup at her breasts.

"Oh god" Makoto whispered as Ren was eating her out. She felt like such a slut right now, but all that did was turn her on even more. Ren fingers twiddled her nipples before pinching and pulling them.

She gasped loudly as Ren nuzzled into her, stimulated both her holes at once. She was horny, that was for sure, but anal was not on the table for tonight. She knew she was coming soon and reached back to once again pull Ren further in.

"R-R-Ren!" She whined as she began to shake uncontrollably and her knees buckled. Seconds later, clear fluids sprayed out and covered her boyfriends face.

She'd imagined what it would be like to have an orgasm at someone else's hand. When Ren came into her life, she knew he'd be the one to do it, but she always wondered how. Would he stick her hand down her panties and rub her in the student council room? Would he eat he out after a romantic evening? Would she climax during their first time?

Getting her ass eaten out while stark naked in an alleyway wasn't even considered, but here we are.

Makoto fell to her knees as Ren licked his lips, tasting her slightly salty extract. He smiled as he once again squeezed the Queen's royal cheeks, causing her to whine.

"W-What...do you want to do next?" Makoto panted she turned to him, lust still in her eyes. Ren silently looked at her before;

"How far are you willing to go?" He smiled

"At this point, I'm pretty much a bitch in heat" Makoto said as she licked her lips "I'll do whatever you want"

Ren's eyes widened, he never could have dreamed those filthy words leaving Makoto's mouth, but oh god how he loved it when she talked that way, it made him just want to jump on her and take her right there. He didn't want to admit it but the way Makoto talked dirty; oh god, did it make him want to ravish her like there was no tomorrow. He licked his lips at that thought and watched as Makoto stared up at him.

"Let's walk naked through the street" He told her. They had already partaken in exhibitionism, they might as well go all the way "Let's go streaking"

Standing up so that she was in control and above him, she licked the side of her mouth and whispered sensually and almost what sounded like a bitch in heat

"As you wish"

And with that, she began to walk out the alleyway, making her way towards Yongenjaya's main street

Ren was in awe, was she really going to do this? Makoto was getting closer and closer before Ren gulped and realized the very real possibility that there was a chance someone would be walking down the street. He leapt forward, grabbing Makoto by the shoulders just before she'd be visible to anyone on the street. He quickly glanced forward towards the street, darting his head in both directions. Thankfully, the streets were as empty as the late night promised they would be.

"Ren?" She questioned as he sighed

"Sorry, I panicked" He said as he turned to her "Are you really okay with doing this?"

"I am" She smiled at him, lust had completely taken over common sense at this point. Despite the reluctance, she knew this turned Ren on. The fear instilled mixed with the sex. "Now come on"

Ren tried to question her, but before a word could leave his mouth Makoto had grabbed his hand and now the two were darting down the streets of Yongenjaya completely naked.

The two pairs of bare feet ran across the streets, the thrill had turned their heads dizzy, they ran around Yongenjaya what felt like a dozen times. Makoto slowed down and threw her hands behind her head, emphasizing her body as she swayed her hips, it almost looked like she was dancing. Ren slowed down to take the image in. His beautiful girlfriend, prancing naked in the street. His heart however, nearly popped out as Makoto got on all fours and began to crawl.

Ren's jaw was on the floor, was this really Makoto? She was so overtaken with pleasure that she was crawling naked through the street like a dog. Ren walked slowly walked behind her, like her master guiding her. God the explaining they'd have to do if they were seen like this...

Makoto's ass was jiggling as she moved on her hands and knees, the cheeks were showing clear signs of bruising now after Ren's attack on them earlier, her pussy and her anus shown off proudly. That was it. With a slight push at her hip with his foot, Ren turned Makoto over onto her back

_"Good_" _She thought "About time"_

"Ready?" Ren asked as he kneeled between Makoto's open legs. Snickering down at her, he bent down and blew her nipple to see it come to life. Pulling the sensitive nipple, he watched fascinated as Makoto arched her back and gasped out in pleasure, her hips unconsciously rolling up and brushing his stomach. Responsive as ever.

"Fuck me Ren..." Makoto whispered, no, begged. "Please..."

He didn't have to be told twice, placing her hips back down, he thrusted into and cried out with her in their rush.

Makoto yelped in pain. Her hymen shattered by Ren's length. She had heard tales people losing their hymen to injury, including martial artists. Unfortunately Aikido had not been so kind to her. A small few drops of blood trickled out as Ren remained still

"Slowly" She asked, clearly in pain "Please..."

Ren complied, moving at a snails pace, rubbing and playing with her nipples to give her pleasure to distract from the pain. Makoto gasped, it felt like she was burning. More so when Ren lifted her hips up and thrusted deeper

_"T-This is really happening, isn't it? I lost my virginity by having sex in the middle of the street" Makoto thought to herself "I'm really having sex with Ren in public!"_

Ren leaned over, Makoto took the chance to wrap her arms around him

"It's so warm inside you" Ren panted as he now freely thrusted inside her, the pain on her end long since passed

"It feels so good!" She panted as Ren throbbed inside her "H-Harder!"

Ren complied, he knew it wouldn't last much longer. And...shit, he had bought condoms from Takemi, he knew he should be prepared for this, but in his haste, he had forgotten all about them. He was inside her with no protection. He'd have to take care to pull it out

Well Makoto sure as hell didn't care about that, as she quickly turned them over so that she was on top, now bouncing on top of him. Her breasts bouncing all over the place as she threw her head back

"S-Sis'll kill me if I get pregnant" Makoto slurred

"I'll pull out" Ren panted

"N-No! Cum inside!" Makoto commanded much to Ren's shock "I want you to cum inside me!"

"But you-" Ren tried to speak but his mind was like static at the moment thanks to pleasure

"C-Cumming! Cumming! Cumming! Cumming! Cumming!" Makoto panted as she orgasmed over and over again, her tongue falling out her mouth like a dog "I'm cumming!"

"Makoto..." Ren panted as he once again played with her breasts "You're mine! My girlfriend! My exhibitionist! Your body belongs to me!"

"I, Makoto Niijima, am Ren Amamiya's girlfriend" She monologues "And I love having sex with him in public! I'm his exhibitionist cum dumpsttttee~~~~rrrrr!"

Makoto squealed as Ren shot his load inside of her. She could feel it travelling to her womb as she shook on top of him before falling forward onto his chest

"Shit..." Ren panted as he breathed heavily, Makoto's heart was beating so fast that he could feel it. His was racing too

Makoto moved and once again, claimed his lips. It was short since the two were out of breath. Warm pants tickled his chest when Makoto snuggled into his, draping her arms around his waist and kissing his neck with little bites and kisses. Running a hand through Makoto's hair, he rested his chin on her head and kissed it sensually before letting his fingers trace up and down her arm that brought on goosebumps from her skin.

"Ren?" Makoto asked him, but he couldn't find the strength to respond so he grunted and nuzzled his nose into her hair, smelling that damn erotic smell of hers.

"Hmmm?"

"We can't sleep here" She smiled as she began to rise to her feet "Come on"

Ren only grunted as he began to push himself up. Both made it to her feet, wiping themselves off. It's only now they realized the surroundings. They weren't that far from LeBlanc, maybe about five minutes off. A cold wind blew through causing the teens to only now realize it was freezing outside. Both covered their privates parts on instinct.

"L-Let's go back" Ren gulped

"Mmm-hmm!" Makoto nodded in panic

The journey back to LeBlanc wasn't long, but it felt like an eternity. The teens were now cautious, now carefully sneaking through the streets instead off running through them without a care in the world. Carefully tip-toeing and making sure the streets were empty before moving on. Makoto whimpered as she tried to move quickly but quietly through the street. While Ren darted as fast as he could.

Yeah, the lust had gone away...

Thankfully, the familiar street corner came into view and the two darted towards the cafe, diving through the door which they had left open, picking up the discarded clothes and moving them out of the way and then slamming and locking the door shut.

After their exhibitionist adventure, they'd finally made it back home. And sense had unfortunately reared its ugly head

"D-Did we actually do that...?" Ren gasped

"I'm disgusted with myself" Makoto was almost sobbing in pure mortification "We were naked in public! Someone could've seen us!"

"It's fine, it's fine" Ren told her as he grasped her shoulders "No one's ever out this late, there's no security cameras nearby. We're okay"

"I hope you're right" Makoto whimpered as she wrapped her arms around him "I...I was shouting at the top of my voice, I called myself a..._a cum dumpster_ for gods sake!"

"I'm more concerned about the fact I came inside you" Ren murmured

"No, that's okay, It's fine" Makoto waved him off "I'm on the pill, I...assumed we'd be doing..._stuff_ sooner than later"

"Well you got that right" Ren said with a small laugh as he tried to lighten up the mood

Makoto sighed as she sat down in one of LeBlancs booths, yelping as she did thanks to the assault on her cheeks by Ren earlier. She peered down at her clothes, Her shirt, skirt and tights were intact, but the bra and panties had been torn to shreds when Ren couldn't wait to undress her and just ripped them off

"S-Sorry" Ren said sheepishly

"It's fine" Makoto sighed, afterall, Ren's shirt and boxers had met a similar fate thanks to her

Ren sighed as he took a seat across from her. Both teens silently looked at each other. Regret was there from their actions tonight, but that was a minor note to the joy they were feeling.

"I'm glad..." Makoto said with a small smile, confusing Ren "Even if we acted like a bunch of Perverts tonight, I'm still glad we did it, I love you and I was happy to give myself to you"

"I love you" Ren said back, they'd said it before, but now it felt truly special "Think of it this way, we're not likely to forget this night, are we?"

Both Teens laughed before Makoto shot him a serious look

"Just for the record, tonight was a _one night only _kinda deal, alright?" She said sternly "We're never doing that again"

"Of course" Ren threw his hands up"From now on, we have sex like normal people"

"Yes" Makoto nodded, blushing slightly at how casually they were discussing their sex life

...

"So..." Ren trailed "Bed?"

Makoto blushed, after all that, were they already going for Round 2?

"Or..."

"Or?" Makoto questioned

"Well, we _did _discover first hand that sex in odd places feels pretty good" He said slyly to her, causing her to gasp

"I-I just said we're not going back outside!" Makoto said authoritatively

"No, no! Nothing like that!" Ren calmed her down before looking around "I was thinking..."

"H-Here?" Makoto gulped as she looked around the empty cafe

"Well, it's closed..." Ren muttered

"We don't have school tomorrow..." Makoto added

"Sojiro doesn't open until 8am" Ren said, looking at a clock

...

Makoto let out a sly smile as he stood up before sitting on the table and leaning back, spreading her legs wide. He grinned at her and walked over, cupping those breasts that he loved so much that he had Makoto arching her back in lust before answering her.

"I stay on top this time" He grinned, watching his favorite perky twins jiggle.

Ren grinned sexily at her and Makoto could only groan in pleasure when his cock touched that spot that made her twitch.

He planned on fucking her the entire night and every night from now on. The night was filled with moans and screams of uncontrollable pleasure as two bodies fucked each other. After he was done, she really wouldn't be walking for a month.

* * *

Yeah...

Truth be told, I considered making this chapter a separate fic altogether. I just really wanted to write a kinky ShuMako story with them getting off in public. So I did :D

Back to the regular style of the story with next chapter


	14. Rank 9

_My personal takes on the Rank 9 scenes with the girls_

* * *

"I love you." Ann says as she takes a deep breath. "I'm...I'm in love with you...I've been in love with you for a really long time, ever since Kamoshida's palace when you came to save me, I've just fallen even deeper in love with you over time." Ann whispers, with completely red cheeks.

Ren's mouth falls open. Ann is his friend…but that's all that she is to him, and he's not sure he can even be that with her if she has these kinds of feelings for him. Ann is attractive, he'll admit that much, he was quite taken aback by her when they first met, but he's never had any desire whatsoever to date Ann.

"Ann…" Ren says in a regretful voice, and she can feel tears popping into her eyes.

"You don't have to answer me right now." Ann says quickly as she starts to back away, but Ren has to tell her now, and so he grabs her arm.

"I do have to answer you now. A heart is something that you can give to only one person, so you deserve to know..." Ren tells her in a soft voice as he looks her in the eyes to let her know he's very serious. "I can't return your feelings...I...I don't think of you that way, I _can't_ think of you that way."

Ann can't help it, she starts to cry. Ren can't think of anything to say or do, regrettably, he leaves her to sob on the school roof.

* * *

"He said that he thought I'd prefer to be with you..." Haru gulps with red cheeks and an obvious smile on her face "My...why would he say that?"

Ren looks away and sighs, he can tell what Haru is thinking, and what she hopes he'll respond with.

"He...saw that we were good friends"

You could see Haru's soul shatter in her eyes, her expression didn't change but her eyes become dull. With a gulp, she turns to him, her eyebrows slightly torqued

"Uhh...Amamiya-kun" She hums "What I think he meant was that...I...like you"

"I know what he meant" Ren mutters softly

Haru blinks twice at him in shock as her expression falls. She's had nightmares about this moment. Ren was supposed to be the daring hero to save her from Sugimura, he was supposed to take her away. How something that should have been her dream come true became this is a mystery to her. Haru looks away so that the pain isn't so obvious.

"I don't...I...we're..." The words just can't come out of Ren's mouth but he's determined to get them out, Haru deserved the truth at the very least "We're just friends Haru, that's all I can ever be to you"

Now that Ren's admitted it, he keeps his gaze on the ground, to avoid seeing the heart wrenching pain in her eyes.

"I see..." Haru says in a whisper as she stares at the ground. She sees the teardrops falling, and so she squeezes her eyes shut, as tightly as she can for a few moments before she opens them. She sniffles, and she senses Ren's reaction to that.

"I never meant to make you cry…" Ren says in a tight voice.

"I have things to do" Haru wheezes, making sure her back is turned to him "You can leave whenever you want"

Haru darts out the room like she's running for Japan at the Olympics, Ren can hear her sobs and is more than happy to excuse himself from the Okumura home

* * *

"It's just...I like having you around..." Futaba blushes "It's...like you complete me or something...w-why is that?"

Ren's mouth falls open, it doesn't take a genius to catch the meaning in Futaba's words.

"I was wondering..." Futaba gulped, her eyes darting around the room to avoid looking at him "Why were you helping me this whole time? I mean is it...because you wanna help me or is just...because of...me?"

_"Have I lost my mind? Am I insane? How could I even consider asking that?!" Futaba chastises herself_

"You're...important to me" Futaba adds on, now looking at him "Y-You're my key item, right?"

Ren just hangs his head, he can't believe this is happening again. Worst of all, it's Futaba this time. If anything, Futaba's become something of a little sister to him, for her of all people to fall for him is...unnerving to him

"I helped you because..." Ren trailed, avoiding her look "_I wanted_ to help you"

"Well, yeah..." Futaba nodded happily

"But that's it..." Ren says, darting his head up to look at her "I wanted to help you get your life on track, we all did, that's why we helped you, for you and Sojiro"

Futaba's face falls slightly as she begins to dread where this is going

"Futaba, if anything, you and Sojiro, you're family to me"

"Ah..." She simply sounds out, soft breezes escape her nose and he notices she's trembling slightly. Ren's had enough, he can't bare torturing her poor soul any longer

"You're a very sweet and special girl, but you're not the girl for me." Ren finally just fires the bullet, Futaba slightly sways like her legs are failing but apart from that, her expression is unchanged

"Ah..." She repeats, now biting her lower lip and dipping her head to the floor. She couldn't fathom it, why didn't he like her back?

Ren just runs a hand through his hair, how can the same shit happen to him three different times?

"Well that's fine!" Futaba pipes up happily, shocking Ren "Family, right? Then that's fine! A-As long as you're happy, I'm happy!"

He can tell she's lying..

Futaba's now hiccuping everytime she tries to speak. Ren can't think of anything to say

_"For the love of god, just let this end!" Ren screams_

"I-I'm gonna go home" She mutters with a hoarse throat. Before Ren can even reply, Futaba's off

Ren grabs his frizzy hair with both his hands and is damn near tempted to rip out every last clump of it. He roars with an anguished groan as he falls back onto his bed.

Three friends, three confessions, three rejections

It's not fair damn it, why the hell should he feel like shit over all of this?

All this just because the heart wants what the heart wants...

* * *

"What am I going to do?" Makoto sighs "I can't study romance by myself..."

"You don't have to"

Makoto looks at him with a surprised look, Ren lets out an amused chuckle at her

"I'll be your study partner" He tells her

Makoto's eyes widen as her cheeks glow red, she averts her gaze from him as she gulps down all the saliva in her throat.

"I-I'm not exactly well-versed in this kind of thing" Makoto admits as she nervously looks at him "So allow me to confirm this, a-apologies if I've gotten this wrong, but...do you...like me?"

Ren's cheeks now tint red, all the heartbreak he's inflicted in the past has been because of this very moment. Ann, Haru, and Futaba, they weren't the one for him

She was

And he'd break a million more hearts if it meant he could be with her

"I do" Ren says with a bright red face

A radiant smile breaks out on Makoto's face, she tries to hide it from him but she can't so she settles for avoiding his gaze

"Then, if it's alright with you...we should start dating, for real" She gulped. But her breath hitched and her eyes widen when she feels Ren take her hand, and her heart rate quickens into a turbo speed. She finally looks into his shining eyes, and she can tell he's very happy.

"I'd like that." Ren whispers, as she squeezes his hand a bit. He squeezes back and lets out a huge sigh of relief.

"I'm glad." Makoto whispers to him, even as she feels herself blushing again. Ren's smile is enough to keep her from feeling totally stupid though.

_"You're the one Makoto...the only one for me"_


	15. 1 Week of Heaven

_Another "Proper M-Rated" one_

* * *

It was like the stars had aligned

It was Summer vacation

Sae was going out of town on business

And Sojiro and Futaba were taking a trip to Okinawa

They had apologized for organizing the trip without him, but he was more than okay with it.

He had packed overnight bags as he was fully intending to live in the Niijima household for the next few days. Sae didn't know he was coming over, but he had the feeling that she knew he was going to stay there while she's gone.

Sae, sure enough, already knows that things will get freaky in her apartment while she's away. She doesn't _like_ it, but she knows it's inevitable, but she trusts Makoto to clean up whatever messes she and Ren make while they're there.

When Makoto had told them the news and he told her his, she'd gotten more excited than he'd expected her to. Her face lit up so happily, and she gave him a look that let him know she was anticipating it as much as he was.

It was empowering, and it made him feel really good to know that he wasn't the only one affected by the closeness they'd shared the first time. It wasn't that long ago that she'd complain he was hurting her. He still feels guilty about that, and wants to make it up to her by being really romantic during their their together.

_Romance_ wasn't what she had in mind...

He arrives to the Niijima household at around 5pm. He sets his bag down and leans in to kiss her, only for her to pin him to the wall.

"I'm going to have my way with you!" She informs him, and he can't stop blushing.

"Let me shower first, I stink" Ren starts to say, but he's cut off.

"Do that after!" Makoto orders him, as she drops to the ground, and reaches to his zipper.

"Hey! Makoto!" Ren definitely can't get the blush off his face as she yanks down his boxers and pants.

"I know it's not supposed to hurt this time, and I'm anxious! Take off your shirt." Makoto tells him, as she pulls her shirt, skirt and leggings off in almost one smooth motion.

"Bossy little…" He's cut off because she hits him in the back of the head.

"Don't make me change my mind," Makoto says, causing Ren to get a bit worried. But then realized why Makoto was acting this way

_"She's horny?"_

"I didn't mean anything by it…" Ren says, and Makoto smirks at him.

"That's what I thought." She says in a satisfied tone, as she admires his physique.

It's only now that Ren notices that Makoto is in her bra and panties, and all thoughts of protest go out the window. He whips off his shirt, as she unsnaps her bra, and then he sinks to his knees to relieve her of her panties. He can't help but to think she has a tight little body, as he eyes her narrow strip of hair, and then works his eyes slowly upward.

"Why was I arguing with you?" He asks her, with wide eyes, and Makoto smiles.

"I have no idea." She tells him, and he leans down to kiss her. It's the same as it was the first time…

Even though he's fully focused on her, in the back of his mind, he thinks about all of the moments they've shared together in the past, that led them to this point. Particularly the moment where she called him and Ryuji out for hanging around on the school roof. Back then, he'd have never imagined that she'd one day be jumping on him, demanding he make love to her.

"You're so soft," he whispers, as he lets his hands run over her body. Her body feels like liquid on his hands. It's incredible just to touch her.

"And you're hard." She replies, and he chuckles a bit at that.

"That's you're fault" He responds, before he busies his lips on her skin.

Makoto closes her eyes, and feels her knees getting weak, as his lips work their way across her neck and chest. She puts her hands on his arms, to hold herself up properly, and then moves them to his shoulders when he leans forward to flick her nipples with his tongue.

For some reason, him being on his knees really turns her on, and she leans over to kiss the top of his head.

"Mm…Ren" Makoto mumbles, as his tongue traces around her belly.

"My beautiful Queen…" Ren mutters against her skin, as he reaches around and begins to squeeze her firm, round butt.

"My sweet hearted Joker..." Makoto smiles

Ren pulls her body closer to himself, and hugs her tight. He can hear her heart pounding quickly in her chest, and so he starts to kiss down her belly again.

"Ren…" Makoto moans, as his tongue slowly but barely starts to tease her in her most sensitive place.

Makoto sucks in a breath as she feels his tongue slide around, and she's certain that he's purposely driving her insane, but she can't gather up the gumption to do anything about it, since it's the sweetest torture she's ever endured.

To have his tongue work his way quite purposely all around her most sensitive area, and then have him just gently slide right over her clit is enough to make her eyes roll up into the back of her head.

She is quite aware that he's messing with her, but as he keeps it up, he realizes it's having far more of an effect than he had even thought it might. He slides his hands around the insides of her legs, and he can feel the moisture making its way there, due to his relentless teasing.

He finally dives full in, and begins to move his tongue as wildly as he can. It turns him on, to no end, when he feels her reaction against his mouth. He just feels himself go a little wild, and he just hopes Makoto doesn't complain later, that he went too far.

Right now all she can do is make some sexy ass sounds at his slow seduction...sexy sounds that are driving him nuts.

He grabs her by her legs, and pulls her against him as he falls back, so that she's straddling him, and then he languidly kisses her nipples some more while she shivers, while breathing hard.

"I want you." Makoto informs him, and Ren just loves the way that sounds to his ears.

"Go ahead and take me then." He tells her in a low voice that makes her heart skip a beat.

Makoto immediately works to make him hers. She bites at his earlobes as she positions herself over him, and slowly lowers on top of him. It's a strange but amazing sensation, now that she doesn't feel pain. It's still a new and weirdly nice feeling.

Ren squeezes his eyes shut, and concentrates on making himself last, as she slowly lowers herself over him completely. Makoto looks at his face, and she can't help but to feel so good at the fact that he's completely at her mercy.

"Worship your Queen" She says. She likes seeing him be all submissive, as she helps herself to him. She isn't exactly sure why she likes it so much, but she does.

Ren would never admit it, he loves it too. He spends a lot of his time saving people, protecting people, and being the rock that others rely on to be strong. Being under her control is actually something he secretly enjoys and loves a great deal. He knows there is something psychological about it, and perhaps it's not healthy, but he has no desire to change. Her being in charge feels too damned good.

She increases her tempo, and she starts to get lost in the pleasure of making love to him. She particularly loves staring at his face, as he experiences the same pleasure that she is. This time, it's completely mutual, and she is falling in love, with making love. Suddenly he grabs at her, and starts to convulse, while she watches him with a smile. She feels it enter her, thankfully she was on the pill

"Damn…and we just got here…" Ren says, since he can't they've already done the deed less than five minutes after he arrived.

"We're just getting started." She slips off of him as she says that, and heads for the bathroom.

"Well I'd certainly hope so" He smiles at her retreating figure

* * *

_**DAY 3**_

It's been about 48 hours since they had their first round, and since then they've lost count of how many times they've made love, and since that first day, Makoto had decided to abandon clothing and walk around the apartment naked.

Ren, at the very least, has his boxers on, but he's enjoying the sight of Makoto walking around naked, it's like his dream come true.

Makoto glances at the state of his boxers, and she begins to smirk at him.

"Ready again?" She asks him, and he turns a bit red.

"You're the one parading around here in the buff." He reminds her, and Makoto winks at him.

"Is that all it takes?" She asks innocently, and Ren stares at her, his eyes filled with intensity.

"Yeah. That's all it takes. You're killing me here." He tells her, and she frowns at him.

"You're complaining about it?!" She asks, and he shakes his head no.

"Never. You should always walk around naked." He says, and Makoto laughs.

"Make up your damned mind." She says, and he walks over to kiss her.

"Just so long as you understand that when you do, I won't be able to do anything other than react this way." He murmurs, as he takes her hand and presses it against his arousal. He kisses her again, and she responds excitedly. When they pull away, she smiles up at him.

"That's the way I like you though." She tells him, with a mischievous look in her eyes.

"That's a good thing, because with you around…I'm like this a lot." He tells her, and Makoto nearly giggles.

"I wonder if I can't find you some Buchimaru themed boxer shorts…" Makoto mutters as she pulls away to look at his boxers, and he turns bright red.

"Don't!" He says, hoping she never finds any such boxers for sale.

"If I do, I'd make you wear them." She warns him, and he shakes his head.

"Like you could convince me to do that…" He says unwisely, and Makoto flashes him the world's most confident smile.

"Oh I could…" She says in a sure voice, and Ren gives her a pleading look.

"Don't do that to me!" He says, and Makoto laughs.

"As long as you understand that I could get you to wear them" Makoto says, before she puts her hands over his tented boxers. He lets out a helpless moan when she does that, and she leans forward to press a kiss against his muscular chest.

Ren hugs her, even as he mentally realizes that she holds a certain power over him that he can't even try to deny. With these romantic thoughts running through his mind, he picks her up in his arms, and carries her into her room and throws her onto her bed

"This time…I'm going to make love to you." He tells her in a husky voice, and Makoto sighs happily.

"Sounds nice." Makoto tells him as he leans over her. Ren stares at her naked body with admiration.

"I want to please you…" He tells her against her skin, and he starts attacking her body with kisses.

"You do without even having to try…my whole body reacts to your touch." Makoto admits, and Ren stops kissing her to smile at her.

"Good to know." He says, before he starts assaulting her soft skin with more kisses.

Makoto sucks in a breath as he kisses her, making her feel like she can't stop trembling, like she can't get enough of him. Every single touch is so exciting, and she doesn't want it to end.

_"My skin is on fire…"_

"Ren…" Makoto moans, as his lips graze against her breasts.

"Where do you like being kissed best? Tell me." Ren asks, and she starts to blush.

"Everywhere feels nice." She answers in an embarrassed voice, and Ren smiles at her.

"Then I'll kiss you everywhere." He replies, and Makoto's eyes widen as he begins to make good on his promise.

He takes his sweet time, but he finally feels like he's kissed her everywhere on her front, so he gives her a wicked grin, as her eyes open to meet his own.

"What?" Makoto asks, and Ren smiles at her.

"Flip over, so I can finish kissing you everywhere." He tells her, and she is bright red, as she does what he asked.

The kisses he trails down her back, make her entire body tremble visibly, and he can tell she wasn't lying about liking to be kissed everywhere. He pushes her legs apart a bit, as he kisses the insides and backsides of her legs. The little sighs she's making, are driving him to distraction, and so he pushes down his boxers, and pulls out his arousal, to run it along the insides of her folds.

"Oh my god…" Makoto mutters, as she feels the smooth head of his erection pressing against her most sensitive area.

Ren moans in agreement with her words, as he slips the head inside of her, and he slowly pushes himself all the way in. He's shocked that his body isn't immediately trying to release, but he's also glad about it. He feels like he can finally keep going for a decent amount of time. He stops thinking about that, and concentrates on the feeling of being inside of her.

_"So tight!"_

Makoto's moans slowly but steadily get more and more frantic. He can feel her excitement as he pulls out and pushes back in, but her reactions just make him push harder. He gets it in as deep as he can, and lets out a shaky moan.

"Makoto…" Ren mutters excitedly, from how amazing he feels from being inside of her.

Makoto can hear the passion in his voice, and she concentrates on the feeling deep inside of her. She never imagined, before she made love with him the first time, that it would ever feel like this…so completely mind consuming.

The fact that it's not already over, is kind of a surprise for her, since he's never lasted this long before, but it's extra sweet for her. The feelings just keep building up…getting more intense. She begins to feel like she's completely overcome with the feeling, and Ren seems to sense it, because he makes an extra effort.

Then, when he feels the insides of her start to tremble, it brings on his own release, and they both feel the waves of a simultaneous orgasm hit them. He crashes against her for a moment, before he rolls over off of her, and she turns her face to his.

"There's more where that came from." He says, feeling rather victorious, and Makoto smiles at him.

"There had better be." She says, before she goes to take her fifth shower since he arrived at her apartment.

Once again, Ren watches her leave, feeling rather pleased with himself.

* * *

_**DAY 5**_

It's Day 5 of his stay at the Niijima apartment. Ren opens his eyes, and realizes he fell asleep after the last time he and Makoto made love. He walks into the living room, still nude, and see's her in his t-shirt, reading the newspaper and not paying attention to him.

"Time?" He questions, and Makoto jumps since she hadn't noticed him waking up.

"11am." She replies, and he yawns before he stretches out his arms. "You've only been asleep for a few hours"

"Well I barely get any sleep nowadays." He mutters, and Makoto laughs.

"I'll take that as a compliment, that I wore you out." She says, and he smirks at her.

"Well you did…but I'm energized now." He says, looking at her purposefully, and Makoto starts smiling.

"You are?" She asks.

He nods his head as he stands up and walks over to her wearing nothing at all which makes her heart race like crazy.

"I want you." Ren says, and Makoto drops the paper.

Within a moment he's picked her up in his arms and is kissing her. The shirt she's wearing starts to get shimmied up by him as he fumbles with that and balancing her. He finally walks her over to the wall, where he leans her against it, and removes the shirt.

"Ren…" Makoto whispers achingly, and he leans forward to kiss her. Makoto gasps from the pleasure as he starts nibbling on her neck, and then he lightly bites into her skin.

He reaches down and starts stroking her clit to prepare her for a 5th straight day of love making. He's a bit surprised that she's already wet, and ready to go. He finds it difficult to believe that he turns her on that much, but it makes him feel good nonetheless.

He isn't ready to start yet, he wants to make out some more before he goes there, and he reaches around to smack her ass a bit.

"Makoto…" He moans as he buries his face in her neck. He starts to kiss and suck much more aggressively, and Makoto sighs in sheer bliss as her senses are once more completely worked over by Ren.

"Don't tease me. I want you." She whispers, and he can hardly hold back once she puts it like that. He pushes her against the wall, and positions himself for entry.

"Do you want me to do it rough?" He asks, with his face turning a bit pink, and Makoto's eyes widen.

"Okay…" She says, and her eyes close as he probes at her folds.

He finds her entrance, and feels himself slide into her warm, wet canal. Then he gets a good hold on her legs for positioning, and he starts to go to town. Miraculously, his nap hasn't affected his ability to last, so he's left with mind numbing bliss as he makes love to her against the wall.

Makoto grabs onto his arms, as he bounces her body so that the penetration is fast, deep, and hard. He lets out a low sexy groan as he works her body over with his bumping and grinding. He stares at her breasts as they bounce from his thrusts.

"Makoto…" He growls out as he starts to push with even more vigor. She gasps from the added feelings that brings her, and she squeezes his arms even tighter. Suddenly…he can feel her climaxing as he's working his rhythm, and her body's reaction to him instinctively makes him work harder, wanting her to feel every bit of pleasure she deserves to feel as she shakes in his arms, and squeezes him with more strength than he expects to feel.

"R-Ren!" Makoto calls out as the waves of ecstasy don't die down right away…they keep on pulsating through her body as he keeps on going.

She sucks in a deep breath and moans loudly as her body jerks a bit in his arms from what's going on inside of her. Ren doesn't stop. He's not ready to finish yet, and he wants her to have another one of those…it felt so good against his arousal, and he wants to feel it again.

He balances her body with one arm, and puts the other on her breast, before he pushes it up a bit. He leans forward to lick her hard nipple, and his thrusts aren't as deep as he does this, but then he pulls away, and pushes her to her hands and knees.

He positions himself on his knees behind her, and then he reaches around with one hand to finger her clit as he reinserts himself into her again. Makoto holds herself up with her arms, even though she wants to collapse to her face at all of the things he's making her feel.

"God…Makoto…" Ren's voice is very low and sexy as he mutters at her, because he can feel himself finally starting to get close.

Makoto's body starts to shake again, and Ren lets out a loud turned on moan when he feels that. It's that sensation again, that her body is convulsing on the inside, so he yanks his hand away from her clit, and grabs onto her hips to really pound it home.

He can hear himself moaning and groaning very loudly, but since her volume is nearly as high as his, he finds no embarrassment in it all, just pure erotic pleasure.

Ren knows his climax is upon him, because he's suddenly become so much more aggressive and loud. Her body feels like it's vibrating on the inside and he lets out a final shout before he pours himself within her.

He finally stills, and lets out a big shaky breath. Makoto pitches to the ground with her entire front, popping him out of her body, and he sputters at her when she does that.

"Now it's all over the floor…" He groans, before he runs to the bathroom to grab some tissues.

Makoto breathes deeply on the floor, a bit in shock at how much she's completely obsessed with making love to him. She can't experience it enough. She smiles though as she sees Ren run back with tissue to wipe up what had spilled out when he popped out of her body.

"We better scrub the place clean before Sis gets back…" She pants

* * *

_**DAY 7**_

"Did you scrub the counter?" Makoto asks with concern, and Ren nods.

"Of course!" He says, and she thinks about it for a long moment before responding and thinking about what they did on the counter right before they started cleaning.

"Well…clean it again!" She orders him, and after a moment of thought he decides she's right, and he sprays with a strong antibacterial cleaner before he gets to scrubbing again. Makoto plugs in the vacuum cleaner and begins to vacuum around the apartment

"I'm going to go scrub the shower!" He yells over the sound, and Makoto simply nods her head.

She keeps on vacuuming while he heads into the bathroom to double scrub that with the same intensity that he scrubbed the counter. She takes her time, but when she's finished, she grabs a rag and some cleaner to clean the wall where they leaned up against when having sex.

The only problem is, when she's finished with that, only that area of the wall looks clean, so she's forced to scrub the entire wall. She uses way too much cleaner, and when Ren comes back into the room, he covers his nose at the smell.

"God!" Ren exclaims before he grabs his nose. "Open some windows!" He exclaims before he rushes over to do just that.

Makoto glances up and suddenly realizes that the smell of the cleaner has pretty much overtaken the entire apartment. She watches as Ren opens the windows in the room.

"I think we're done…I feel positively grimy." Makoto says, and her boyfriend suddenly seems very interested in what she might say next.

"Yeah me too." He agrees, and she looks at him.

"Now I want to shower." She tells him, and he grins at her.

"I'll help you." He agrees, and she blushes but doesn't argue the point.

He follows her into the bathroom where she removes the t-shirt she had put on in order to clean, and Ren yanks off his shirt and pants.

He surprises her by being well behaved, at first. He helps her scrub every inch of her body, and she lets out a small moan of pleasure when he does the middle of her back, since he gets it with more pressure than she's ever able to get on it.

Of course her moan of pleasure is all it takes to make her boyfriend get as hard as a rock, like he's been for the majority of the time they've spent at her apartment. He turns her around, and leans down to press a fiery kiss against her lips. When they pull away, he can see the way her eyes sparkle at the level of intimacy that they share in the shower.

"Ren…" Makoto whispers, as she can feel the magic of their love enveloping her entire being once more.

"We don't kiss enough Makoto…I'm going to make sure I correct that from now on." He says huskily, and she smiles up at him.

"I won't fight you on that," she tells him with wink, which makes him groan.

"Good…" He tells her, before he leans down to share another exciting kiss with her.

Makoto closes her eyes and sighs happily into his mouth as his tongue roams expertly around her mouth. She's glad that he likes kissing her so much, because she loves it too.

Her body shivers in pleasure as his hands start roaming around her naked and wet body. He touches her in a needy way, letting her know without words that much more is to come. She puts her palm on his cheek as she kisses him, and reaches her other hand around to grab his rear end and pull his middle into her.

_"I love you Ren! I love you so much!"_

Makoto lets a shaky moan out into his mouth when his hand slides around her front and he begins to massage her most sensitive feminine place as he kisses her passionately.

He wishes he could voice all of the things he feels, but he feels like if he said it all out loud, it might sound really stupid…and he knows instinctively that what he's feeling is hardly stupid.

_"Loving her is better than anything I've ever felt before…I just want to love her forever…"_

She begins to squirm in his arms, taking him back to the effort at hand, of trying to please his girlfriend who is far too cute for her own good. He purposely lets out a low pleased moan, to let her know how much he likes her reactions to his touch.

Makoto finds that her boyfriend has paid close attention to her in their past love making sessions, and is catching on to exactly how she likes to be touched. His caresses are driving her insane with want.

Ren, of course, is not unaffected by what he's doing to her…simply touching her is enough to make him feel like the skin is really straining itself below…

He sits down in the tub, and pulls her down on top of him. Makoto grasps the edge of the tub to position herself over him. He looks at her with love shining in his eyes, and she smiles as she sees that. There is no greater gift in the world than Ren's love. The water is hitting her back as she starts to bounce up and down on top of him, and he has a look on his face like maybe he's in a bit of pain. She smiles as she recognizes this look.

_"He's struggling to last…"_

It's really amazing for her, since he'd seemed to be able to last longer each time previously, but then he opens his eyes and stares at her directly in the face as she keeps up her movement.

His eyes roam over her chest as she continues to work at making love to him, and after a moment he lifts her off of him, and he leans forward to shut off the water, which was getting progressively colder.

He stands with her, and grabs the towel, but her eyes are on his erection, which is sticking straight out.

He pats their bodies dry before hanging the towel back up, and he pulls her out into her bedroom, so that they can finish there. Since she had done all the work in the bathtub, he lays her down on her bed and climbs on to assume a more physical role in the love making.

She immediately begins to moan in appreciation as he doesn't even try to hold back. He wants to please her, and he's noticed that she likes it best when he makes love to her using all of his muscles along with all of his power.

Her back arches up, and her entire body shivers visibly from his attentions, and he's unable to even think past the incredible orgasm that is making his entire body convulse as he stays tucked tightly within her.

As his body seems to go back to normal, he takes a deep breath, and wonders why the room doesn't seem aired out as it should considering the windows are open. The combination of breathing in the scent of the cleaner, and making love to Makoto are enough to make him want to close his eyes just for a few minutes.

Makoto's mind seems to be working in a similar manner, as she too simply closes her eyes and holds onto her handsome boyfriend. She feels like she's about to fall asleep

Until...

"Makoto? I'm back"

"Oh shit!" Makoto yells as she practically throws Ren halfway across the room

"Are you in the shower?" Sae's voice asks

"N-No!" Makoto calls out loud enough for Sae to hear, she almost darts out the room before remembering she's naked "I-I mean I was...b-but I'm just out!"

"Alright, I'll jump in" Sae says and Makoto breathes a sigh of relief. Ren is bright red at this point, since soon there's about to be three naked people in the apartment and he can't even get dressed since-

...

Oh shi-

"Makoto, my clothes are in there!" Ren yelps and Makoto's look of relief turns to one of of horror.

Thinking quickly, she quickly dives into her closet and throws on a pair of Buchimaru pajamas and darts out the room

"W-Wait Sis! I left my clothes in there!" Makoto cries out "I need to throw them in the laundry!"

"Well hello to you too!" Sae groans as Ren can hear the two sisters shuffling past each other "Why are you already in your Pajama's? Are you sick?"

"O-Oh this? I-I just threw them on!" Makoto gulps

Ren is shitting himself at this point, he's stark naked in the middle of Makoto's room, it's fairly bare-bones, so there's nothing for him to hide behind. Add to that Makoto left the door open, meaning all it's gonna take for Sae to find him is a brisk walk 10 feet to the left

"Is Amamiya-kun here?"

_"Oh fuc-"_

"R-R-Ren?" Makoto tries to get out "Why would you t-think that?"

"Well, you were alone for a week" Sae hums "I would've figured he would've stayed over"

_"I'm dead, I'm so dead" Ren cries as he begins to tear his hair out_

"S-Sis!" Makoto gulps, Ren can tell from how faint her voice is that she's in the bathroom now, gathering their clothes

"Well come on, I'm not stupid Makoto" Sae says with an amused chuckle "I was 17 once too"

_"Like you got laid when you were 17" Ren scoffs before returning to his panic_

"For your information, Ren's and I's personal time is none of your business!" Makoto huffs, he can hear her clearly now so she must be on her way back "But no! Ren-kun isn't here!"

"Alright, alright" Sae chuckles "Do what you want, as long as you're using protection"

"I'm on the pill, I-"

...

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that" Sae groans

There's a loud rustling of footsteps. Ren breathes a sigh of relief as Makoto runs back into the room, his clothing well concealed in the pile of hers. Quickly, he throws the shirt and pants back on and slips into the pair of shoes he brought

"I gotta get outta here." Ren says, though he wishes he didn't have to say that. Makoto nods at that, but she pauses to smile at him.

"We had a great time while we were here though didn't we?" She asks him, and he smirks back at her.

"All in a days work…" He tells her, and she laughs.

_BANG_

And now both teens are promptly shitting themselves as a now jacketless Sae boots Makoto's door open

"S-Sis!" Makoto gulps

"Shit!" Ren yelps as Sae is burning a hole into him with her glare

"So...you were here" Sae says firmly as she raised her arm

"W-Wait Sis!" Makoto tries to plead, but it's then that he notices what's in her hand

"Do your own damn laundry Amamiya-kun" Sae groans as she tosses him the bag he brought over to Niijima household, that he dropped by the door when he and Makoto made love on that first day. Ren catches it and Sae promptly leaves to have her shower

"Well..." Ren gulps as he quickly zips up his bag and throws it on his back "I'll...uh...be going now"

"Y-Yes" Makoto nods as Ren begins to awkwardly shuffle past her, but she makes sure to kiss him on the cheek before he leaves, giving him a smile on his face

She walks him to the door and they give each other a passionate kiss before he departs. As soon as he does, Sae pokes her head out the door, her hair is wet and her shoulders are bare so it appears she just jumped out the shower

"Did you..." Sae trails on with a quick nod towards the direction of the tub

"Yes..." Makoto sighs

"Did you clean it..." Sae glares

...

"Yes" Makoto nods

"_Did you clean it_?" Sae repeats with a glare

"Y-Yes!" Makoto lies, but Sae appears to buy it as she retreats back into the bathroom and closes the door

"She doesn't need to know" Makoto tells herself as she shuffles back to her room


	16. The Second

_Really short one. It's a f__ollow up to Chapter 12 which ended with Makoto revealing she was pregnant, here they have their second child_

* * *

Ren smiles happily at the little bundle in the crib, he has Makoto's skin tone and her red eyes but already has a mop of jet black hair on his head

"He looks like you." Ren whispers, as he hugs his wife from behind her. Makoto smiles, as they stare at the crib.

"Well, Maya had your eyes and skin tone, it's only fair." Makoto says, smiling.

They only just got home from the hospital, and Makoto is terribly nervous when it comes to caring for hers and Ren's tiny children. Makoto had gone through so much trouble giving birth that Ren hadn't dared to argue when she picked out the name.

"Hey Hiromu" Makoto smiles as her son opens his eyes. "Just you wait 'till you meet your big sister"

"You and her look out for each other, okay?" Ren requests "Chase off any potential boyfriends, she's not allowed to date until she's 30"

"Why are you like this?" Makoto asks, and Ren rolls his eyes

Ren is saved from having to explain anything any further, because the doorbell rings.

"Too early for my parents to be here" Ren mutters "I'll go and get the door. You stay with them."

Ren lets go of her, and runs to go answer the door. When he opens it, his sister-in-law is standing there with a smile, holding hands with his now oldest child

"Thanks for looking after her" Ren thanks her as Maya runs into his arms and he hoists her up

"So, how's my Nephew?" Sae asks as Ren leads her in "I must admit, I'm a bit anxious, a boy in the Niijima family is something I'd never thought I'd see"

"Well, he _is _an Amamiya" Ren reminds her

"Niijima-Amamiya" Sae corrects as Ren leads her into the nursery, spotting Makoto staring into the crib, Maya immediately wiggles free from her Father and runs into Makoto's arms. Sae looks over and leans over the crib, looking at the sleeping Hiromu

"Oh...oh look at you. You're beautiful" Sae says with a bright and sunny smile, causing Makoto to smile at her. "He looks just like you Makoto"

"He does, doesn't he? Take a look Maya" Makoto says as her daughter peers into the crib "That's your little brother, Hiromu"

"Bra-wa" Maya sounds out, she's almost two but still hasn't quite got the hang of talking yet. As she does, Hiromu starts to wiggle before bursting out crying

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Makoto asks as she sets Maya down and reaches over to Hiromu, carefully scooping him up "It's okay, Mama's here. Are you hungry? Are-...oh..._oh god_!"

Makoto is almost gagging as the utterly vile smell hits her nose. Sae quickly picks up Maya and exits the room before the smell affects them too.

"I'll do it" Ren coughs as he grabs his squiggling baby who's kicking his legs at his point, he figures Makoto's had a tough enough time with giving birth, the least he can do is take care of the first diaper change.

Without any hesitation moves, he moves Hiromu to the changing table and begins to change his son, without a word of complaint in regards to the smell. Makoto watches, impressed as her husband takes care of their son like a pro.

"I'll never get used to the smell" Makoto chokes, Maya's diaper changes were always turbulent times, they couldn't get her toilet trained quick enough

"Aaaand done, you stinky little boy you" Ren smiles, throwing the discarded diaper in the trash, he blows a raspberry on his sons belly, causing the little boy to giggle

"Is it safe?" Sae asks, poking her head in the room

"It's never safe" Makoto says, fingers still clamped on her nose

* * *

_LATER_

"I think everyone we know came over today." Ren grumbles, as Makoto is feeding Hiromu while he is feeding Maya.

"They were all happy for us." Makoto says, and Ren smiles in agreement as he spoon feeds their daughter.

Suddenly, that horrific smell fills his nostrils.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Makoto gulps "R-Ren..."

"I did it the first time" He tells her, not turning his gaze from Maya "It's your turn"

"O-Okay" Makoto winces as she takes her baby over to the changing table "I can do this...no problem"

As she peels the diaper away, she half expects to discover that her son actually crapped a out a dead carcass, because that's what it smells like, but nope, normal infant poop.

"This is going to freak out all of the babysitters." Makoto grumbles "How can it smell so bad?!"

"Well look at it like this, at least his way, we know he's healthy" Ren chuckles


	17. November 19-22

_**NOVEMBER 19**_

Stylish as ever, he leaped between the hanging partitions as the guards were alerted to his presence. He had to make sure to get out, he had to, failure wasn't an option

Everyone

Every_thing_

It all depended on this.

"Stay calm, you can get away now!"

The voice of Futaba cheered him on as he leaped across the lighting rig of the Casino. He hopped along, jumping out and grabbing a railing to pull himself up to the second floor

"Stop right there!"

His dash grew to a halt as two guards appeared before him at the top of the stairs. Their bodies began to twist and morph into something that wasn't human. Shadows

He peered behind him, another appeared, baton in hand

Joker could only smirk

He leapt into the air, pirouetting like a world class dancer. He landed on the Shadows back before grasping at its steel mask

"Show me your true form!"

With a mighty heave, Joker ripped the mask clean off, exposing the monsters true face. He jumped off as its skin began to bubble and blacken. It almost looked like it was melting before it burst into a geyser of energy and there stood its ferocious new form. Looking almost like a bull standing on its hind legs

The ever present smirk only intensified as he reached for his knife, he could deal with this is no time.

But something strange happened...

All sound just...stopped. It was if he had gone deaf. It was concerning to say the least.

He made a quick click with his tongue just to make sure his ears were still working. They were, but the question was, what the hell was going on?

Well next, it was light, everything became pitch black, nothing was there anymore. Now he was worried. Until a myriad of blue flames lit before him, before they took the form of his familiar Persona

"I am Arsene, another you that exists within" He introduced "Ah...we meet once again."

"You..." Joker muttered, lowering his knife

"You have progressed well through your recollections. Last spring, you awakened to this furious power." Arsene stated

"Why are you here?" Joker questioned

"You have progressed well, but one thing still needs to be stated " Arsene tells Ren, who looks panicked. "One final hurdle that must be overcome, if you wish to survive"

"What?" Ren asks desperately.

"I need you to tell me, the identity of that which fights alongside of you, right now...why you need survive this day." Arsene tells Ren as he gives him a piercing look.

"I need to survive to save everyone's life!" Joker shouts "If I die here, they'll come after them! I need...I need..."

"Remember how closely your heart and I are connected, remember that, before you say the words" Arsene explained to him "Speak, and I promise you the resolve to survive the day"

Joker breathes hard as he listens to everything that Arsene has to say

"I need to live...so I can be with Makoto" Ren answers in a quiet but sure voice. Arsene honestly almost looks like he's grinning at Ren's honesty "This last year...all these bonds I've made...no one's touches my heart like her, I need her...I love her"

"I promise you then, that I will give you the power to break those who seek to destroy you, the power to save her with your own two hands. If it is your deepest desire is to live, to save her life, and spend the rest of yours with her then it is my deepest desire as well." Arsene says, as Ren listens. "You have finally learned of your own free will, the matters of the heart, and how no one can break your steadfastness."

Arsene actually looks a little bit proud of Ren as he explains all that Ren needs to know for the fight to save everyone.

"Your fate will soon be determined...recall everything...remember the bonds you have forged with your friends. If you are fated to continue beyond this point, then we shall surely meet again" Arsene states as he began to vanish "I am thou, thou art I, the power of your will spurns on, nothing can extinguish the flame you hold, for your friends, and for the one you love. Now use that power and defeat the enemy before you!"

Ren closes his eyes and exhales, when he opens them, everything is back to normal. The wild shadow is there roaring at him, among the bustling casino

"Joker, everything okay?" Queen's voice echoes through his earpiece

"Perfect" Joker smiles, a truly happy smile since. He knows now that he'll live, he'll survive the day, he'll save everyone, including the girl he loves. He eyes the beast with that trademark smirk before leaping into action "It's Showtime!"

_I'll live! and now I can save everyone, especially you Makoto!_

* * *

_**NOVEMBER 21**_

Makoto sighs as she lays in her bed. She has a decision to make. She can either live without knowing, or she can humble herself and talk to Ren. She was terrified from the moment she found out about the plan, that he would fake his own death, to put himself in such incredible danger than it would just take one slip-up and he could actually end up dead. The last two days had been a nightmare, she could only sleep because Ren told her he would be okay.

"He's so strong. I don't even know if I'll ever get to that point." Makoto mutters under her breath. "I'm supposed to be his Senpai. I want to be seen as his equal…after all"

Makoto lets out a frustrated sigh as she attempts to sleep for the 20th time tonight, until her phone beeps. It's a text, from him

_Ren - You awake?_

Makoto sits up and quickly types up a response

_Makoto - Yeah_

_Ren - I'm glad_

Makoto's eyes widen a bit, and she suddenly feels quite nervous. She takes a deep breath before she types back

_Makoto - What about you? Couldn't sleep either?_

_Ren - After the day I've had?_

Makoto sniggers at his response

_Ren - Why aren't you asleep?_

Makoto shakes her head and sighs a bit loudly.

_Makoto - I had some things on my mind._

_Ren - Imagine how I'm feeling_

_Ren - Sorry, that sounded rude_

_Ren - What's troubling you?_

Makoto sighs one more, she might as well get it out there

_Makoto - My limitations with my abilities. I have multiple Persona techniques, and even though they're all very powerful, I wonder if I'll ever be as strong as you_

_Makoto - You handled everything expertly, but I've been terrified over the last few days_

It takes a few moments before a response from him comes...

_Ren - Expertly? I was shitting myself the whole time_

_Ren - Why do you think you're not as strong as me? You're a fearsome opponent, particularly with your abilities._

Makoto trails off and blushes. She isn't ready to admit to him that the reason is that so that he can have faith in her, as the strong woman who stands next to him. She looks at her phone and narrows her eyes a little bit.

_Ren - I never said that you shouldn't want to, but why are you thinking about it so much?_

In LeBlanc, Ren is staring at this phone. He's not ready to admit to her that he doesn't want her to feel this way, and he definitely doesn't want her to be so strong that she feels she doesn't need him anymore.

"I'm only this strong because of you" He quietly mumbled

_Ren - Can you come to LeBlanc tomorrow?_

_Makoto - Sure, why?_

_Ren - I'd like you to tell you this face to face, not over the phone_

_Ren - 'Night_

Makoto stares at her screen as Ren leaves the chat. Talking with him relieved some of the anxiety in her, enough to get some sleep

* * *

_**NOVEMBER 22**_

"Hey" Ren greets as Makoto enters his room, he's still banged up and bruised for the beating he received from the officers at the station

"Hello, how are you feeling?" Makoto makes small talk, trying to avert attention from his black eye

"Not great" Ren tries to laugh it off, but his ribs are still hurting badly so he just winces

"What did they do to you...?" Makoto asks sadly

"Beat the shit outta me harder than I've been beaten up before" Ren grimaces as he clutches his ribs "Takemi's gave me a bunch of stuff, but I haven't used it yet"

"Why not?!" Makoto gasps

"Honestly, it's kinda slipped my mind" Ren admits "It's been so hectic, and...I've just had a lot to think about"

"No, no!" Makoto snaps, surprising him "Not another word! You have to take your medicine!"

Ren gulps at her words before looking away from her

"I'm not talking about a couple of pills" Ren admits before gesturing over to a bag on the bookcase. Makoto walks over and peers inside it

"Painkillers, ointments, bandages, sprays" She lists off the contents, before she looks at him "Why...why do you need all of this?"

"Makoto..." Ren says sadly "Listen, about our conversation-"

"Ren" Makoto cuts him off "Why do you need all of this just for a black eye..."

"They gave me a lot more than a black eye" He chuckles

"They what?" Makoto asks in shock

"Don't worry about it" Ren tries to tell her and get back to the original subject, but she's having none of it

"What did they do?" She asks, Ren just wants to get back on track but he can tell she's not letting it go

"Makoto...they tortured me" Ren admitted, Makoto's eyes widen "They beat me black and blue"

"Show me..." She demands, much to Ren's shock

"Makoto, you don't want to see" He sternly warns her, she shakes slightly at his words

"Show me" She repeats sternly. Ren winces at her, he knows she's not going to let this go. Ren slowly sits up as she looks at her

"Turn around" He asks her, but she refuses, staring intently at him "At least...get a basin of water and a cloth from downstairs"

"That, I'll do" She nods as she takes off downstairs "Sakura-san, do you have a wash basin?"

"Under the sink there" Sojiro points out, Makoto picks it up and begins to fill it up with warm water, grabbing an small towel in the process "You nursin' him back to health or something?"

"I'm just helping him" Makoto blushes as the water pours

"Yeah, he needs that right now" Sojiro grumbles "Can I ask something of you?"

"Of course" Makoto nods

"That kid needs you" He explains to her as Makoto's cheeks glow slightly "Take good care of him."

"O-Of course" Makoto gulps "But...why me of all people?"

"I'm thinking you're the only one he trusts enough to be vulnerable around, Just a hunch I have. Take good care of him. Let me know if you need anything else" he cheerily said before she began to stroll back to the stairs. Makoto smiled at him briefly, exhaustively.

A tear splashed the warm water of the basin as she bit her lip, hiding her eyes beneath her brown bands of hair. With a deep, strangled breath she regained her composure and gripped the basin with whitened knuckles as she walked up the steps.

"R-Ren?" she whispered as she arrived back at the attic. What she saw almost made her drop the basin.

He was standing there, his clothes discarded and in nothing but his boxers, but that's not what shocked her, she had been seen him in a swimsuit before, it wasn't that. It was what his body now looked like.

There were cuts all over him, some still bleeding, and puncture wounds on his chest. His left pec was likely torn as the bruise covered the entire left side of his upper torso and continued down his arm, making skin look like it had been charred black. Bruises danced all over his left side, like he had been stomped on and hit with a blunt object. His ribs were taped up, likely by Takemi but blood was clearly staining the bandages. His legs were beaten just like his torso, his knees were buckling due to the amount of punishment to them, his legs were almost entirely purple due to the beating. Several of his toes were quite clearly broken, blood was also seeping from them too.

"Oh my god..." Makoto whispered in horror as she set the basin on a table, she approached him with her eyes wide with shock "Oh my god..."

Ren's intense silver eyes looked at her with a twinge of pain, his brow furrowed with confusion and exhaustion.

"What did they do to you?" She whimpered as she glanced over his battered form

"Makoto." He stretched towards Makoto weakly. She hesitated in taking his hand, but let their fingertips touch, sending a bolt of electricity through her stomach. She felt her cheeks burn.

"Turn around" She demanded, Ren knew it was useless to argue so he complied. Her gasp as she laid eyes on the bruises there too could be heard all over the world "Oh my god"

"That's not all" He admitted, he might as well reveal everything at this point. He turned back to her and opened his mouth, two of his molars and one of his back teeth were missing. Makoto recoiled at the sight, pupils shrinking "They knocked out the molars, but the one at the back, they...they yanked that one out with pliers"

That was it, she couldn't take it anymore. She began to cry, no, sob

"Makoto?" Ren asked with worry as her head sank down onto his chest, he couldn't think of anything to say, so he just let her cry into his chest for a few minutes as she wrapped her arms around him

"Why did they have to do this?" Makoto managed to say through her sobs

"They were on Shido's payroll" Ren said to her "I'm lucky this is all they did"

Makoto looked up at him, a tear pouring down her lashes carelessly. She wiped it away hastily and dried her eyes, allowing nothing but the redness of her face hint that she was so upset.

"Sit down on the bed" She demanded as Ren blushed, she went back to the basin and towel and brought it over, setting in on the shelves next to the bed. Easing his dirty bandages away from his body, Makoto managed to keep his bleeding to an absolute minimum. She let her fingers feel the skin around his cuts and found that they were damp and red. She cursed softly under her breath and sat back on her knees

She dipped the towel in the warm water before gently dabbing on his skin. Despite that, Ren winced in pain, sucking the air sharply through his teeth

"Sorry" She whispered as she wiped off the dried blood. With great tenderness, she cleaned his chest and let herself admire his collarbone and shoulders girlishly. Realizing where her eyes had traveled, she blushed brilliantly and focused herself on his wounds.

"I need you to lie on your stomach." She told him, causing him to grimace

"It'll be painful" He said as he adjusted himself to be on his stomach. Slowly he strained himself and pulled himself onto his stomach. She carefully peeled the bloody bandages off his back and once again, gently wiped him with the towel. He winced and Makoto could tell his grip was white-hot upon his pillow. She felt his eyes burn holes in the wall next to his bed and was silent as she brushed away the blood on his back.

"On your back" She said to him as Ren slowly turned over. Makoto moved down to his legs, no words were exchanged as Makoto's gentle hands washed away the blood on Ren's legs. He simply watched her eyes as she worked, healing his wounds to the best of her depleted ability. His skin rippled with excitement as her fingers brushed his skin and wished he had the strength to fight against her, to push her away. He did not want to admit that he enjoyed feeling her fingertips sooth his wounds and heat his flesh.

"Okay, I'll get another towel" Makoto said, darting out of the room. The bleeding had stopped but when he strained himself to sit, his stomach burned red-hot with pain. Clutching the sheets, he eased himself back to his pillow and listened quietly as Makoto bustled about the kitchen downstairs and returned back in almost record time, with three towels instead of just one. "I'll dry you off"

Gently, Makoto wiped away the dampness on his skin. She cursed herself as she once again made Ren turn over to dry his back, and because she know realized that she'd gotten his sheets wet. Whatever, she'll go out and get some new ones, 'least she could do at this point.

But it was getting worse, Ren's wounds were opening again, left and right. Then she remembered the bag Takemi had left, she reached in and grabbed an ointment, she recognized it, they had a bottle of it in her house

"This soothes cuts, but it stings like hell" She told him, much to Ren's grimace.

"I'm already in pain as it is" He sighs "Go for it"

She pours it onto her fingers and then gently applies to one of his cuts. He screams, he howls in agony, his entire body spasms at the sensation

"R-Ren!" Makoto yells in horror as he gasps like he's struggling to breathe

"N-No more! No more!" He begs her "Jesus Christ!"

"I have to" She tells him sadly and Ren's eyes are watering in pain

"At least...let me sit up" Ren wheezes as he pushes himself up to a sitting position. He's up at an odd angle that Makoto has trouble reaching his back at.

"Can you move? I can't see your back" Makoto requested

"Just...sit on the bed" Ren told her

"R-Right" Makoto gulps as her cheeks glow. She moves onto the sheets and once again gets the ointment ready "Sorry, this is going to hurt"

"I know" Ren says, a few seconds later Makoto applies it and his body is on fire. He tries not to scream this time so he grits his teeth and clenches the sheet "Fuck!"

"I know it hurts, I'm sorry" Makoto apologizes "Try to take your mind off it"

"How?" Ren whimpers

"Well...what was it you wanted to tell me?" Makoto questions, causing Ren's eyes to widen "The thing you wanted to tell me to my face and not over the phone?"

"It was..." He gulped "You asked how I was so strong, how I managed to get through all of this...I wanted to tell you how I managed it"

"I see..." Makoto says in wonderment

"When I was escaping the Casino" Ren begins to tell in a quiet voice. "Arsene appeared. He said...to tell him why I needed to survive that day"

"He wanted a reason?" Makoto questioned

"Exactly." Ren says, even as he wonders if he should just keep it secret. He decides it's better to just be upfront about it. "He said that I'd only have the resolve to survive if I had a reason to keep living"

"What do you mean?" Makoto asks in confusion.

"He told me to give my reason for wanting to live." Ren says in a near whisper, even as he feels totally embarrassed at what he'll have to admit next.

"What was that?" Makoto asks curiously.

"I told him..." Ren says in a tight voice, even as he remembers his heartfelt confession to Arsene.

"What did you tell him?" Makoto asks, even as she notices how nervous he's become.

"You"

...

"W-What?" Makoto questions. Her throat feels tight, and her insides feel like they're tying into knots.

"I have to live...to be with you" Ren finally whispers before he turns bright red and turns to her. "I love you Makoto"

"R-Ren!" Makoyo utters in amazement. She feels more touched than she could have ever thought possible at hearing this story. Her eyes are all huge, and it looks like they're filling up with tears.

"Sorry." Ren whispers, even as he bites his lip.

"For what?" Makoto asks in amazement, feeling very special that it was his intense feelings for her, that actually led him to now.

"For telling you like that." Ren mutters, wondering if she'll even say anything about his huge confession.

"Don't be sorry…I asked." Makoto tells him, even as she stares at him with a couple of tears working their way down her cheeks.

"So…lemme ask you, why do you want to be strong?" Ren asks, even as he's still feeling a bit embarrassed. Makoto no longer feels a need to keep this information to herself, now that she knows what she knows. "Is it...so you no longer have to rely on me?"

"No...it's so that you can fully count on me as the woman who stands next to you." Makoto whispers, and Ren's eyes snap at her own "Because I love you...I love you Ren Amamiya, I love you so much"

"Makoto…" He whispered. She silenced his hesitancy with one faint nod, her eyes wide and trusting as her hand slid up his arm and pulled him towards her.

"Are you sure this is what you want? I'm not some beautiful model like Ann, or as refined as Haru. Even Futaba seems more fun and outgoing than me. So...this is the last chance you have to walk away from me, Ren" she warned, her tone solemn and deep "So if there's any doubt...if you think that I'm not good enough, then let me go now, because if you don't, then I'm never letting you go, ever"

"I never want you to let go" He whispered to her "Stay with me forever, Makoto"

Makoto let her tears go, now ones of joy with a rickety breath, and Ren's body crawled forward to pull her into a tenderly commanding kiss, their first kiss for both of them. His fingers glided across her collarbone, across her sternum. Her hands responded to his touch, allowing her fingers travel his lean stomach, full of tender caring. Neither felt any urgency, so let their lips met in an almost painfully slow, passionate embrace, savoring the taste of each other's desires.

Gaining more confidence, Ren pushed forward further, closing the barrier between them and let his thumb brush against Makoto's chest. She pushed herself deeper into his hands and he supported her weight in his palm, so slight and delicate as she was. The warmth of her body against his became almost like a kind of itch, her clothes preventing them from holding each other as close as they so desperately needed. Ren broke their kiss, his breath falling like a weight from his lungs, shallow and heavy.

"Makoto…" He moaned, she silenced his hesitancy with one faint nod, her eyes wide and trusting as her hand slid up his less-damaged arm and pulled him back down upon her. She nibbled lightly on his lower lip and massaged the back of his neck with as much encouragement as she could muster, putting herself completely in his hands.

Sadly, it was all ruined when her ointment covered fingers brushed another one of his cuts

"Sorry!" She apologized as he pulled back in pain

"It's fine...It's fine" He panted "Guess...I can't really do anything right now until I'm healed"

"I guess not" Makoto sighed as she reached back into the bag to see if she could find a less painful treatment

"Thank you" Ren said out of nowhere, gaining her attention "For everything."

"You don't have to thank me for anything. It doesn't matter where we go, we'll always be together from now on." Makoto tells him softly "Whether you come live with me in Shibuya, or I come to live with your in your hometown, I want to fight with you by my side from now on. You make me strong."

"What about your life here?" Ren asks her a bit frantically.

"If you aren't with me, then what kind of life is that?" Makoto asks him seriously. Ren lets himself smile a little bit.

"All I'm asking is that you always stay with me." Ren says softly.

"What you're asking is what I want more than anything in the world." Makoto admits with very red cheeks.

"Good" He smiled as he leaned back in to kiss her again "Because no matter what happens from now on, I'm never letting you go"

* * *

This was originally a much, _much _shorter chapter, in fact it only went up to the end of the conversation with Arsene, but I decided to add more and more to it and it ended up being the third longest chapter yet


	18. Valentines Day

_So slight heads up. It's 100% totally unintentional, a total accident, but this one kinda comes off as **very** mean-spirited towards the other P5 girls, it wasn't my intention but once I noticed it, I couldn't really write around it so I ultimately had to leave it in for the sake of the story. Again, it's a bit mean, but I swear I didn't intend it to come out that way._

* * *

Makoto really regrets that making sweets isn't her strong point. She is really talented when it comes to grilling or cooking, but her experience was sorely lacking when it came to knowledge on how to make really good homemade chocolates for a Valentine's Day present. She wants to get it right, especially since he's just got out of Juvenile Hall

She had completely failed. She hadn't wanted to ask for anybody's help, or accepted any offers to make chocolates with any of the other girls, because she didn't want Ren to be aware of her failing ability to make chocolates…and when the day before Valentine's Day came, she still didn't have any clue what she was going to do, until she came across a brilliant idea.

Makoto spent the evening in a dessert shop in the neighboring town to get some insight on what she might be doing wrong. Sae seems to be aware that Makoto has been experimenting with her ability to make sweets late at night, but has been kind enough not to remark upon it.

Finally, after "borrowing" from a recipe online, she manages to make something she thinks is really spectacular. A small chocolate cake with strawberries outlining the top of it. The batter had tasted wonderful, so Makoto has confidence that the final product also tastes great. At least she hopes so. She puts the cake in a pretty box, and then covers it before making her way to LeBlanc. After a long train journey, she carefully sneaks it passed Sojiro and walks up the stairs and sets it on his workbench, with a little note that she had made a full week earlier.

_For My Joker_

There are little drawings of their Phantom Thieves masks and hearts on the note, and she wants Ren to see it first thing when he gets back. She stumbles her way back to the stairs before she hears a noise

"Ah, you're back" Sojiro calls out "Your girl's upstairs"

Makoto curses Sojiro's loose lips, but then again, there was no way she could hide now that Ren was back anyway

"What?" Ren sounds shocked, but then she hears the sound of him clambering up the stairs. When he arrives at the top, he sees Makoto sitting on his bed staring at him wide eyed.

"H-Hi" Makoto greets, and Ren notices the box on his workbench.

"Is this...for me?" He asks as he puts his bag down, Morgana hops out and makes himself scarce because he knows this is a moment these two should have alone

"I made it myself" Makoto admits with her cheeks glowing red as Ren walks over "It was tricky, but I'm pleased with the results"

"Thank you" Ren smiles, causing Makoto to grin at him.

"It's the least I can do, after everything you've done for me." Makoto says as Ren chuckles at the small note

"_Your Joker_, huh?" Ren asks, but the conversation is cut when he hears Sojiro screaming his name, but what he yells after is what really bothers him.

"Takamaki-san is here to see you!"

"Ann is here? What is she doing here?" Ren asks, and Makoto's throat drops.

"Maybe she has a Valentine's Day gift for you." Makoto says, and Ren gawks at her for a second before he responds.

"Why would she?" Ren asks, and Makoto raises an eyebrow causing him to curse under his breath and head down the stairs with as much enthusiasm as one might walk a plank.

Makoto stays upstairs just incase her guess is right, she doesn't really want to see Ren receive a Valentine's Day gift from any other girl. The realization of this fact is a bit startling to her too. She lies down on his bed and sinks down into it.

"He wouldn't accept another girls gift..." She tells herself

Meanwhile, downstairs, Ren is looking at Ann who is holding out a small bag.

"Hey!" She greets happily but she's clearly embarrassed "T-This is a bit awkward for me. We do Valentines different over in America. We don't really do that whole _girls giving the guys chocolate thing_, if anything, it's the guys who get the girls gifts since we don't even have white day over th-"

"This is obligatory chocolate right?" Ren cuts off her rambling, hoping fiercely that it's the candy girls give their guy friends, but Ann blushes bright red.

"No…Ren-kun…" She can't seem to say anymore than that. If it isn't obligatory then it can only be one other kind.

"Sorry Ann…I can't accept it." Ren says, feeling bad since she looks so hurt by his words. Sojiro is clearly uncomfortable too

"But…I spent all night working on it!" Ann says, and that causes Ren to imagine what kind of candy might even be in the bag she's presenting him, before shaking away that thought

"I can't accept them because I don't want to lead you on." Ren says firmly, and Ann's eye twitches.

"Did…Makoto..." Ann trails off but it's obvious she wants to know if Makoto gave Ren anything for Valentine's Day.

"Yes…Makoto made me chocolate." Ren admits honestly, and Ann takes a deep breath.

"She did?" Ann asks, shocked since her friend hadn't said anything about it to her, even when she'd asked if Makoto wanted to make candy with her.

"She did…and I accepted it." Ren tells Ann, with his tone doing more explaining than his words themselves.

"Oh…" Ann mutters, quiet as a mouse

_"Jesus, kid. Let her down gently" _Sojiro cursed under his breath

"And I can only accept those kinds of feelings from one girl. I wouldn't want to hurt Makoto's feelings by accepting anything that's not only obligatory from any other girl." Ren says, feeling better with each word he speaks.

Ann nods her head feeling really numb as she stares at the object of her desires. For a while now, she had the feeling she had lost to Makoto, but now that she's staring it in the face she just doesn't want to accept it.

"But…I did make them for you. Please take them so that I don't have to leave here still holding them." Ann practically begs, and Ren shakes his head again.

"I can't..." He shakes his head "Why don't you give them to Ryuji or Yusuke? I'm sure one of them would be really happy to receive them. I can't take them."

Ann's mouth drops open at his dismissal of her. She turns bright red as she is still standing in LeBlanc, so she turns to the door, and runs out.

"Ah, Lady An-" He could hear Morgana's voice from outside, but he knew from the sudden cut off that she had quickly departed. Morgana enters LeBlanc, looking furious, as furious as a cat could look anyway "You bastard! What did you do to Lady Ann?!"

* * *

Makoto feels a lot of relief when Ren returns without any additional Valentine's Day gifts in his hands.

"Ren?" Makoto asks, but his eyes land on the cake she made for him.

"Want to eat it together?" He asks her suddenly and Makoto feels her face get a bit warm.

"Together?" She utters, and Ren smirks at her.

"Afraid to eat your own cake?" He asks, and Makoto jumps to her feet.

"Are you saying the only reason you offered was because you wanted to see if I was brave enough to eat my own cooking!?" She's so mad that Ren's eyes to widen in shock.

"No! Makoto, I thought it would be romantic! I was just teasing you!" Ren stops her, and she looks very embarrassed by what he just said.

"Romantic?" Her eyes narrow at him. "Are you still teasing me?" She demands, and Ren takes a quick step back just in case.

"No I'm not teasing you." Ren says hastily, and now Makoto feels bad. She sits back on the bed and looks away for a few seconds before nervously asking him a question

"You want me to feed it to you?" She asks, still looking like she's unsure of how to share a small cake.

"I do now." Ren says, nodding his head in appreciation of her idea.

"K-Kid" Sojiro calls out to him

"God damn it..." Ren curses under his breath before shouting back "Sojiro, I'm kinda busy"

"Y-Yo!" A female voice makes both Ren and Makoto lose their train of thought. The near romantic moment is completely spoiled when Futaba comes flying up the stairs, with a small parcel in her hands, adorably fashioned in the shape of Morgana's head.

_"Oh you gotta be fucking kidding me..." Ren curses_

"Futaba!? What are you doing here?!" Ren manages to ask even though it's suddenly difficult to breathe.

"Well duh, It's Valentine's Day! I'm here to see you!" Futaba's announcement makes Makoto's eyes go wide

"You…" Ren is flabbergasted.

"I got you chocolate!" Futaba says proudly, and Ren nearly groans.

"Is it obligatory?" He asks, and Futaba frowns at him.

"N-No! I...made...them." Futaba almost spits out at him, and Ren gives her a regretful look, which scares her "W-why are you looking at me like that?"

"I'm sorry Futaba…but I can't accept them. I've already accepted Makoto's gift, and I can only accept one of that nature." Ren tells her, and even though her expression doesn't change, it's clear that Futaba _doesn't_ like that at all.

After a short pause, she looks directly at him and holds out the box

"J-Just take them okay?" Futaba demands

"Ren…" Makoto isn't getting involved in this. She knows Ren will handle it in his own way.

Before Ren can stop her, she's torn open the box and is shoving them into his chest

"I can't" Ren tries to push her hand away but she's not having it

"Just..." Futaba tries to be angry but it's clear she's trembling "Just take them, okay? I made them, I even went out to get the ingredients all by myself! I..."

Futaba finally stops when she feels like she's going to throw up and she jumps away from him.

"Why..." Futaba asks with tears welling up in her eyes, before she glares over at Makoto. "Why her and not me?"

Makoto's throat feels tight, she's upset that she's done this to her friend, but at the same time, she's glad Ren is sticking to his guns

"I'm sorry Futaba, I don't mean to be mean to you. I do like you, but only as a friend, a sister at most." Ren tells her, and her head dips to his bedroom floor.

"So that's it, huh?" Futaba mutters and Ren jumps to his feet even if he is feeling a bit dazed. Before Ren can even respond, Futaba chucks the box down, letting the chocolate spill out on the floor

"Futaba?!" Ren chokes out

"Idiot!" Futaba shrieks before disappearing down the steps

_"Futaba?!"_ Sojiro calls out, Ren dreads the conversation with him later

"I guess you aren't in the mood to eat now..." Makoto says to him, and Ren looks a bit green as he gathers up the spilled chocolate. They stick it in the torn container Futaba presented it in. Makoto puts it on his table, but she's shocked as Ren slips it off it and into the small trash bin he keeps next to it

"Maybe a bit later." Ren says, and Makoto nods. Either way, she's really happy that Ren has refused to accept chocolates from any other girl, because it means she knows he was serious about it when she decided to give him the gift.

"Sure thing." Makoto says, before she walks over to him "I'll head to market real quick to pick up some things for Sis"

Ren's eyes widen as Makoto places a kiss as light as a butterfly on his left cheek and then she leaves. Ren touches his cheek where she kissed him, and he doesn't move for a good two minutes until after she's disappeared.

Ren is sure his troubles have ended now that he's turned down both Ann and Futaba's chocolates

_"Sakura-san, is Ren-kun, upstairs?"_

"H-Haru?!" Ren chokes out

_"Yo, is the kid upstairs?"_

"Ohya-san..." Ren whispers

_"Good evening, I'm Amamiya-kun's teacher, is he upstairs?"_

_"Hello, I'm Hifumi Togo, I was told Amamiya-kun lived here?"_

_"I'm Chihaya Mifune, Amamiya-kun is here, yes?"_

_"I had some time away from the clinic, is my guinea pi-I mean, Amamiya-kun upstairs?"_

Ren's mouth is wide open and his eyes are bugged out, he feels like he's about to faint

"Oh fuck my ass..." Ren whimpers

* * *

"And that's seven hearts broken in one day. Even when I was your age, I never sank that low" Sojiro scoffs at him, and Ren throws his arms into the air.

"Please don't..." Ren whines

"I'm not so mad that so many girls were into you, what I'm pissed about is what you did to Futaba!" Sojiro snaps and Ren immediately feels horrible "You made her cry! She's probably bawling her eyes out in her room right now! She'll be that way for hours, I hope you know!"

"I didn't make her cry on purpose! I simply told her that if her chocolates weren't obligatory I couldn't accept them since I accepted Makoto's cake!" Ren explains, and Sojiro bites his lip.

"It's true that you aren't exactly wrong here, but why did you have to be so mean to her?! You didn't even try to follow her, you just let her run out!" Sojiro says with his fists balled up, and Ren shrugs at his guardian.

"I probably could have handled it better, but I honestly was just trying to do the right thing." Ren says, and he's surprised when Sojiro walks over and places his hand on his shoulder.

"Look, I'm not about to criticize you for rejecting someone you don't have feelings for, you're clearly very happy with Niijima-san" Sojiro sighs "You wanting to spend Valentine's with your girl and no one else isn't anything wrong, but you could have handled it better, I know you were just trying to do the right thing, but you owe apologies to both Futaba and Takamaki-san"

Ren isn't sure if he agrees with Sojiro there. Honestly, in his opinion, he doesn't owe them anything, after all the shit he's endured the last year, he's happy to be selfish when it comes his relationship with Makoto. But he doesn't dare mutter a thing out of fear of Sojiro's wrath

"Sakura-san"

Both their attention is turned to Makoto who's returned from the market. She sets down the bag of groceries she bought on Ren's small table and walks over to them, and then gives a short bow to Sojiro

"I was really happy that Ren didn't accept any gifts from any other girls, and I don't think it's right for him to be criticized for making that decision." Makoto says in a firm voice and Sojiro's eyes widen. "If you must blame someone, then blame me."

Sojiro looks at her for a moment before letting out a huff

"Nah…I guess it was kind of nice of him to be so considerate of you." Sojiro says slowly, and Makoto beams at him. Sojiro rubs his head before looking back at Ren "Look...I'm going to tell Futaba you apologized for your rude treatment to her, and I'll explain how serious you and Niijima-san have become, but the rest is up to you." Sojiro says, before leaving the couple to themselves.

"Thank goodness he's gone." Ren says quietly, and Makoto laughs at him.

"Ren, didn't you agree that we were going to eat the cake together?" Makoto asks

"Yeah…" Ren nods as he grabs the cake off his workbench, and they make their way downstairs, into the now empty Leblanc

"Are you finally ready for some cake?" Makoto asks, and Ren smirks at her.

"Yeah, come on." He tells her, before he grabs a spoon from the kitchen. Makoto is about to sit down opposite of him in one LeBlanc's booths, but Ren grabs her by the waist and pulls her into the seat beside him.

"Ren?" Makoto says with a bright red face, but Ren just tightens his hold on her.

"This is how we're going to share." Ren tells her, before he unwraps the cake and hands her the spoon. Makoto blushes, but she digs into the cake with the spoon, and then holds it up in the air for him to taste the cake.

Makoto holds her breath while she's putting the cake in his mouth, but when his eyes light up with happiness, she's sure that she managed to make the cake without screwing up.

"Is it good?" Makoto asks, and Ren's eyes sparkle at her.

"Very good." Ren says before he takes the spoon from her, and gets some to feed her.

Makoto feels like there's some sort of sensational party going on in her mouth when she's eating the cake, and even she's impressed with how great it turned out. It's also an erotic experience to be this close to him, feeding him, and letting him feed her.

Together they eat the entire cake, and when the last spoonful is deposited into Ren's mouth, he pulls her close to him.

"Happy Valentine's Day Ren." Makoto says softly, as he's swallowing his bite of cake, and he shocks her by kissing her lips very lightly.

"I'll always be your Valentine." Ren says huskily, and Makoto smiles at him.

"I'm expecting something really great for White Day!" Makoto warns him, but then she realizes that can't happen. Ren knows it too since he sadly looks away "Sorry, I guess I got so lost in today that I forgot...you're going back next mouth, right?"

She closed her eyes and crossed her arms, this is the part she had always feared since they began dating, the fact that they would inevitability be separated. It wasn't fair, to her knowledge, his parents hadn't even contacted him this whole year, he had a life here, why did he have to go back? Why did she have to lose him after finally having him for herself?

"What will happen...to us?" She asked, her eyes still squeezed shut. She dreaded the answer

Ren looked at her painful expression and his heart broke. He didn't want to go back, he wanted to stay here, with her and everyone else. But he knew that he had to go home in March, there were people waiting for him there. He was almost tempted to tell her to come with him, but he knew she couldn't. She had entrance exams for University coming up, career choices to make, and even if she didn't, there was no way in hell Sae was letting her go.

But one day, he knew they could stay together forever

"Nothing will change" He told her as she finally opened her eyes to look at him "After everything we've been through, a long distance relationship will be nothing difficult...besides, I'll come back"

"Yes. Yes, you're right" She smiled at him with a nod "You know, there was a lot I wanted to say, but none of it matter now that we're here together. After all that waiting, living in different places doesn't seem like such a big deal."

Ren looks away from her gaze for a split second, Makoto took that chance to rest her head on his shoulder, she interlocks her hand with his his and looks at him with a precious smile

"And...I've been waiting for you for so long" She says happily as she closes her eyes "I'm not asking too much...am I?"

"Not at all" Ren says, placing a small kiss on her head "To think I've lived for 16 years and only recently discovered just how wonderful love can actually be...with you...only with you...will you be with me forever?"

"Of course..." She smiles warmly, snuggling into his shoulder

"Okay..." He says quietly before a sharp inhale "Makoto?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you marry me?"

"W-What?!" Makoto shrieks as her head darts off his shoulder so fast that it's like she got yanked away by a fishing line

"I don't have a ring or anything, but I'm completely serious" Ren tells her sternly without a hint of joking "I'm not talking tomorrow or next week, month, year, or maybe not even the next decade. But I'm serious, nothing could describe my feelings better than this, I want you right now, to agree to someday be my wife."

Makoto gasps and her free hand goes over her mouth. She definitely hadn't expected anything like this today. She didn't expect tears to well up in her eyes, but when Ren rubs the spot on his finger where a ring would go, her heart quickens even more. In response, she squeezes his hand tighter.

She was still new to what love felt like, but she knew what it looked like. Her grandparents loved each other deeply, and her parents loved each other deeply too. She knows from the look he's giving her alone that Ren is deeply in love with her. She's knows he's perfect for her and she'll never give him up

"Am..._I_ asking too much?" Ren gulps as he finally realizes the severity of the question he's asked, his eyes are now full of regret as he's now believed he's alienated her and possibly damaged their relationship

"I feel the exact same way." She assures him, and she feels him squeeze her a bit tighter as now his eyes are watering.

"So...you..." Ren whimpers with his bottom lip quivering

"I'm hardly going to go around bragging to all our friends and my sister, I doubt they'd be very happy with the news right now" Makoto laughs with tears streaming down her face "But we're going to do it someday, so might as well do it now...so yes...yes, Ren Amamiya, I accept your proposal, I will marry you and happily be your wife one day"

Ren can't help it, he's never cried in front of Makoto before but he's flat out bawling at this point with tears of Joy. Makoto, whose face is hardly dry itself, wipes away his tears before kissing him softly on the lips. Ren kisses her back and before long, they're passionately making out. She feels tingly feelings running throughout her entire body. Ren looks at her, gazing at her eyes that are shining like stars

"Am I asking for too much?" He repeats

"Not at all" She breathes, her body feels like it's on fire. She's never felt like this before but she knows what it means.

Ren is nervous about what he's about to ask, but fuck it, might as well go two-for-two

"Makoto" He moans as his nibbles on her earlobe. Makoto shudders uncontrollably as she can feel her womanhood getting wetter by the second, it feels like her nipples have pierced through her shirt and she wouldn't be surprised if he could feel it too.

She knows fine well what Ren wants right now, and she wants it too. She had always been a bit scared of when this part was going to happen, but right now there's no fear. She willingly allows him to turn her senses inside out as he presses his body against hers, and runs his hands over her arms and then her legs. She's so wet now that's she a bit worried that she's actually wet herself.

"I want you…" Ren admits, and he wonders if they've both lost their minds to be doing this, first actually getting engaged, now they want to make love for the first time.

"I want to be one with you." Makoto mutters before the two dart up the stairs and throw themselves onto his bed. Ren shakes, even as his body is silently cheering at this sudden turn of events.

Makoto disposes of her jacket, revealing the black turtleneck underneath. He begins to work it up higher and higher, until he's able to slip his hands up and over her breasts, which makes her body tremble a bit in his arms.

"You're amazing." Ren says in a breathy voice in between kisses, and she responds by slipping her hands under his sweater and runs her hands over his toned form. He groans as her fingers slide over his nipple, making him tremble, just from the lightness of her touch.

It feels so nice to have her hands closing over him. It already feels like he's about to release before he even gets his pants off, so he forces her hands away so that he can get a hold of himself. He grabs the base of the white cotton sweater and pulls it over his head, disposing of his t-shirt at the same time. Makoto gasps at the specimen laid out before her. She can hardly believe how toned he is with a visible six-pack, or that she's finally able to look at him like this, in the way she's dreamed for so long.

"I'm not the only one who will be losing clothing here." Ren tells her, grabbing her attention, and Makoto blushes since it's obvious she was checking him out.

He removes her boots and yanks her pants down, revealing silky looking white panties. Ren gets his pants off as fast as possible, and then he swallows nervously as she pulls down her panties, revealing her soaking wet womanhood with a tuft of brown hair above it.

Ren looks at her, it's almost perfect, she's laying on his bed, naked from the waist down with her legs spread open, practically inviting him in. But no, he wants to see all of her. He wants to see her like he's seen her in his dreams, completely naked with nothing but a smile. He grabs the turtleneck and pulls it over off, leaving her bra as her only piece of clothing, and after a small bit of fumbling with the clasp at the back that's gone too.

He can tell she's nervous as he yanks his boxers down, exposing his throbbing erection. Makoto gulps nervously before Ren walks over to his workbench and pulls something out of one of the drawers. Once he tears the foil and fumbles with his manhood, she figures out what it is

"A Condom?" She asks

"Figured this was gonna happen eventually so I made sure to get some protection from Takemi's clinic" Ren explained before he headed back over, his manhood now sheathed in a clear shell

"Smart" Makoto complimented before the two went back to each others bodies. The moment their bodies press together, they both let out a sigh of contentment, and Ren leans in to kiss her again, before he pushes her back down to lie on the bed.

"Hurry." Makoto says, as she feels too turned on to want to keep prolonging it, and Ren blinks as he tentatively runs his fingers in between her legs, causing her to squirm a bit from how nice it feels.

"I don't want to hurt you…" Ren says softly, and Makoto reaches out to stroke him across the cheek.

"I'm tough, don't worry about me!" Makoto orders him, he smiles at her a bit

He leans back over to kiss her, and then he begins to experiment by running the head of his erection over her clit and then down a bit. He feels where he's supposed to push, so he begins to work himself barely in, so that he's in perfect position for the push he's actually worried about.

Makoto moans as nothing has ever felt so supremely sweet as the feelings she's experiencing being naked in his arms. Then she feels him hesitate, and so she reaches around to squeeze his butt cheeks, and he lets out a big breath of air when she does that.

"I'm sorry…" Ren says, just before he pushes as hard as he can through the barrier of her virginity, and Makoto's entire body jerks then tenses up as he succeeds in pushing past her hymen, and then he stops to check on her.

Her eyes are closed tightly and it appears that she's holding her breath. When she opens her eyes to look at him, he can see a hint of tears, and it makes him feel horrible, even though his body is screaming in joy from this new experience.

"I'm okay…" Makoto says through gritted teeth, and Ren can tell it took some effort on her part to say so.

"Do you want to stop?" He asks with concern, and Makoto shakes her head no.

"No but don't take forever either." She tells him, and Ren nearly guffaws.

"I'm not going to last very long…" He admits. He doesn't know the exact length of time, but he knows he doesn't get past ten shoves before he releases, no matter how much he wanted to hold on for a few more seconds. Ren groans into her ear as he climaxes and Makoto just holds onto him tightly, wondering why it had to hurt so damned bad her first time.

Afterwards, Makoto feels like she can feel her heart beating throughout her entire body, as though her body is in shock from the experience she just had. But they know Sojiro could be back at any second, and they're not risking him catching a peek at their bare bodies so they quickly hurry to get dressed

"I love you Makoto, and it won't hurt so much next time, I promise." Ren tells her, and Makoto just grins at him as she slip her pants back on.

"Of course, we'll have plenty of time" Makoto smiles as she kisses her boyfriend, no, _fiance _on the lips "And plenty of opportunities"

"And it will be better every time" He says right back, they hear the jingle of LeBlanc's door, meaning Sojiro is back, so they quickly scramble to get the rest of their clothes on

"So when do we tell everyone?" Makoto asks, Ren instantly knows what she means

"Give it a year of two I guess" Ren shrugs "They'd just judge us right now"

"Smart, I should graduate University first" Makoto nods before getting excited "Ooh! Maybe you can propose at my graduation! Maybe you can hand me a Buchimaru-kun plush but then open a small zip inside and pull out a ring! Or maybe-"

Ren just smiles as Makoto rambles on about her new fantasies, all he cares about is that one day she'll be his wife, and that's all he's ever wanted

_"Valentines Day turned out pretty good didn't it? I love you Makoto"_


	19. Sae the Spy

_A lighthearted fun one this time. Akechi and Sae are quite OOC here, Akechi's a bit goofy while Sae is comically serious as well as being a little bit of a pervert and does something she'd **NEVER** do in canon, but again, this is a lighthearted piece so the out-of-character moments are for the sake of humor. Oh, and despite what seem like some hints in this chapter, I am definitely __**not**__ a SaeXAkechi fan._

* * *

It was a peaceful day for Goro Akechi. The weather was nice and he barely had any paperwork to do. Heck even Sae-san seemed happier than usual…okay maybe not…but she seemed a little better than usual. He was happily tucking into his lunch in the cafeteria, when _**IT**_ happened.

"Akechi, with me"

"Hmm?" The boy sounded before Sae pulled him to his feet "S-Sae-san?!"

"With me" She repeated as she was practically dragging him out of building

"But why?!" Akechi questioned as the pancakes disappeared from view

"My sister" Sae told him, Akechi raised an eyebrow "I just called her, she told me she's on a date with that Amamiya boy"

Akechi didn't look so surprised. He could tell the two had a thing for each other and he barely knew them, it was almost plain as daylight, but he kept his mouth shut.

"So why are you dragging me out of the building?" Akechi asked before Sae gave the him the fiercest glare she'd ever glared

"You're going to help me" Were her cold icy words

* * *

So much for Akechi's good day. God it sucked! Sae and him were trying to blend in _and_ tail Ren and Makoto at the same time. Akechi really didn't want to stalk them all day but Sae forced him by assigning it as a case.

It seemed they had their little date at a nearby carnival, filled with many people that made it hard for Akechi and Sae to keep them in sight. So far all they've done was just get on a few rides and play a few games, in which Ren won Makoto some plushies, most of which were panda's. Thankfully Ren didn't try anything with Makoto, if that happened Sae would've attacked him right on the spot. Akechi thought it was stupid but he didn't dare tell Sae, A.K.A the woman the could kill him with one swipe.

So that he didn't get bored, Akechi was keeping himself preoccupied with carnival, right now by trying to dunk an old man in the tank.

"Come on sonny! Is that all you got? My five year old granddaughter can throw better than that!" He shouted

"Well first of all, how can you have a granddaughter when nobody would want to have kids with you if the first place old man?!" Akechi had a reputation to keep up, but the old man was really getting on his nerves. Every time he threw the ball it kept missing! Was it him or did the target keep getting smaller each time he threw?

"Respect your elders boy!" He snapped. Maybe instead of the target he should just aim for the old man's head. Sae interrupted his thought.

"Come on Akechi, let's go." She demanded

"Just a minute Sae-san, I gotta dunk this guy!" Akechi replied, sounding a bit whiny but he didn't care, all he cared about was getting the old man.

"No, Amamiya will get away with my sister if we don't keep them in sight." Sae stated.

"But-" Akechi was cut of when Sae grabbed the ball from his hand and threw a direct hit at the target, causing the old man to go plummeting towards the water.

"There. Now we can go." Sae turned and left while Akechi just stood there with his mouth agape.

* * *

Sae and Akechi kept stalking Ren and Makoto throughout the day, Akechi was still depressed that he wasn't able to dunk the old man. As soon as Ren and Makoto sat down to eat, Akechi was going to go back and find that old man and get revenge. Too bad while he was sneaking away Sae caught the collar of his shirt and pulled him back.

"No." She said like a master would command their pet dog.

"Can't I at least get some food?" Akechi asked, finding any excuse so he could escape.

"No, you're already overweight enough as you are." Sae said harshly much to Akechi's shock "All those pancakes are starting to show"

"WHAT?! I'M NOT OVERWEIGHT!" Akechi screamed, his voice so high pitched, it sounded like he'd inhaled a whole helium canister beforehand

"You will be if you keep inhaling those pancakes." She stated in monotone, Akechi's mind was breaking at this

"But-" Akechi tried to whine, but Saw once again interjected

"One more word and I'll assign you more paperwork when we get back." That shut him up.

Meanwhile Ren and Makoto decided to go on one last ride before they left. Thank god! They've gone on so many rides already! Akechi recalled all the rides he and Sae followed them on. He cringed at the memory of the last one, a roller coaster that, in his opinion, had way to many sharp turns and loops. All of which made him think he would've fallen right off. Sae practically had to drag him onto the ride.

While he was walking he noticed two girls, that seemed to have been everywhere he and Sae were, coming towards them. To his surprise though, when he looked at them, they darted off in the other direction.

_"Nervous fangirls" _Akechi sighed, he figured it was only a matter of time before he encountered them again

"Come on the line's moving."Akechi was about to go until his eyes were struck with horror from the ride they had to follow Ren and Makoto on.

He was almost ready to cry at this point, but the two fangirls who had darted off before were now in front of Sae, holding out a small box

"I'm sorry, but..." One of the girls gulped "I'm too nervous to talk to Akechi-kun, so could you hand this to him for us?"

"O-Ofcourse" Sae gulped as she took the small box

"Thank you so much!" The other girl bowed "We're so sorry to interrupt your private time"

"O-Oh no, this isn't a date" Sae tried to wave them off, the last thing she needed now was for people to think she was in a relationship with a celebrity. But then they both laughed at her

"Well of course not! That'd be gross!" One of them smiled

"How so?" Sae asked with a raised eyebrow, truth be told she was a little offended now

"Oh, I-I didn't mean anything bad by it!" The girls gulped, now nervous "We're sorry! Honestly! You're beautiful, honestly!"

"O-Oh!" Sae blushed, her cheeks now glowing a little bit red thanks to the compliment

"Your husband must be something else too if Akechi-kun came out looking like that!" The other girl said, prompting the other girl to give her a smack

"Satomi-chan! Don't say that!" She scolded

"H-Husband?!" Sae choked

"We're very sorry to take up your time, it's nice that a family hang out at a carnival, regardless of age" They bowed before they quickly left

Husband...

Family...

They thought she was Akechi's mother...

"S-S-Sae-san?" Akechi gulped "I-I'm sure they-"

"Get on the ride Akechi" She whispered as she threw him the gift they girls handed her

"It's just-"

"**THE**. **RIDE**"

Akechi gulped at Sae's demonic tone, he tried to avoid her murderous glare so he eyed the ride they were about to enter and his eye's wanted to sink into his sockets. The commotion with the girls had made him forget the sign he saw, but now it was all coming back.

"What's the matter?" Sae questioned in an impatient tone, curious as to what was wrong with her subordinate.

"S-Sae-san" Akechi gulped as he pointed, Sae followed the direction he was pointing to, and eyed a sign

_Tunnel of Love_

"So?" Sae just merely cocked her head to the side, He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and from Sae of all people!

"Er, Sae-san, that's the tunnel of love, people will thin-" Akechi was cut off when Sae grabbed a fistful of his jacket.

"Listen Akechi, my sister is in there with Amamiya and I swear if anything happens to her just because you don't want to go in there, it will be on your head." She sent Akechi a death glare.

"Y-Yes Sae-san" He gulped

He followed Sae to the boat, while earning a few looks. He was a celebrity after all. As the ride started they both found out Ren and Makoto were in the boat right in front of them.

"Damn, I can't see anything in this tunnel. Here Akechi, see if you can see anything." Sae handed him a pair of binoculars.

"Where'd you get these?" Akechi questioned

"Don't question me, just look." She demanded. He sighed and did what he was told

"Alright, alright" He groaned as he looked through them "Hmm...nothing much. Wait! I think Amamiya-san just-AAAHHHHH!"

Akechi screamed like a little girl as right in front of him, a skeleton dropped down from the ceiling, hanging in front of them.

"What the hell?! I thought this was the tunnel of love! Not a haunted house!" Akechi screamed

"Relax, it's probably just to get the couples closer to each other." Sae stated in a non-affected tone. "Which reminds me Akechi, could you please remove your hands from my jacket before I cut them off."

Akechi instantly tore his hands away, embarrassed. He must have grabbed the nearest thing near him when that damn skeleton scared the crap outta him. Damnit, Sae's never gonna let him live that down. Sae saw Akechi staring off into the distance, she waved his hand in front of his face. No effect. Annoyed, Sae scooped a handful of water and threw it onto Akechi's face. Akechi started coughing and spitting out the water that made it into his mouth.

"What was that for?!" He spluttered

"Well at least you're alert now." Sae groaned

* * *

"Well Akechi, I guess I'd have to say this is a job well done. Amamiya did nothing to my sister." Sae hummed as she witnessed the duo departed

"Uh...yeah…" Akechi gulped

"What's wrong?" Sae asked, nervous at his tone. Akechi held up his phone to show her what he was looking at. An article with the headline;

_**EXPOSED**__! Goro Akechi spotted with a silver haired beauty at the Shibuya Carnival! Does the Detective Prince have a secret someone?_

"Oh you gotta be kidding me" Sae groaned as she closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose

"Well, the comments aren't happy" Akechi gulped as he eyed the list of angry messages from his fans "Oh, they just updated the arti-...oh"

"What now?" Sae asked as Akechi once again showed her his phone, specifically the new paragraph at the bottom

_**UPDATE**__: We retract this article, we've been informed that the woman in these photos is Goro Akechi's Mother. Apologies to Akechi-kun and Mrs. Akechi for any inconvenience caused_

"Oh for fucks sake" Sae growled. Akechi quickly put away the phone before she smashed it "L-Let's just go home"

"Actually Sae-san" Akechi said with a glare in the opposite direction "I have unfinished business"

* * *

"Is that all sonny?! My 4 year old Grandson can throw better than that!"

"Shut your face old man!"

"It's not gonna work" Sae whined "If even if you hit the target, it's rigged"

"It. is. not!" Akechi shouted between throws

"It is!" Sae groaned back "It only went down earlier because I threw the ball and they wanted to spite you! There's a switch in the old guys hand"

"Is not!" The old man called

"Nope!" Akechi shook his head before readying another throw, it was the last ball and he needed to make it count. He cracked his arm back, ready to launch it before Sae grabbed his arm

"Akechi-kun" She said coldly "Do you seriously think you can make it this time?"

"I believe" He nodded with flared nostrils

Sae looked at him intently before she gave him an amused smirk. She let go of his arm and then immediately unbuttoned and shrugged off her jacket, placing it down on a small fence post nearby, Akechi raised an eyebrow at her actions.

"Alright then...if you are truly confident, then..." She nodded before looking at him with a completely serious glare "I am 100% serious when I tell you this, okay?"

"O-Okay?" Akechi gulped

"If you make this shot and dunk him, I'll strip" Sae told him, causing Akechi's eyes to widen and his face to glow red "Not only that, if you make that shot then I'll walk through the streets of Shibuya on my hands, completely naked"

A small treacle of blood was beginning to seep out of Akechi's nose at the mental image before he regained his composure

"Are you serious?" He asked, she nodded in response

"Completely" She nodded back "And as proof..."

Akechi gulped loudly as Sae unbuckled her belt and undid the buttons of her pants. She then dipped her thumbs into the hem of her pants, no, not just the pants, he could spy that her thumb was also wrapped around the purple fabric she was wearing underneath them. She was ready to yank down her underwear too

"Go on" She egged on with a smirk "Make the shot and these will be off in a flash"

Akechi was shaking at this point, he gulped loudly at allure of Sae's offer. But no, this wasn't about that, it was about pride, _his_ pride. He aimed like a trained sniper, and with a pitch that would land him a spot on a professional baseball team, the ball left his hand like a missile, darting towards the target with precise precision.

_"Sorry Sae-san, but your humiliation is an accomplice to my victory today!"_

It closed in further and further, until with the force of a megaton bomb, it smashed into the circular target

_"YES! GET THOSE CLOTHES OFF SA-"_

And bounced right off

"Looks like you didn't hit hard enough sonny!" He laughed as Akechi's jaw dropped

"I told you" She sighed as she re-fastened her belt and grabbed her jacket "Clearly rigged"

"This...isn't fair" Akechi was close to sobbing before Sae led them away

"My, my, Akechi-kun, if I knew you wanted to see me naked so bad, all you had to do was ask..." Sae smirked, god, even she was teasing him now

"Not funny" He whined

"Well, just letting you know" Sae chuckled "The offer's there"

...

"Wait...huh?" Akechi questioned

"If it really means that much to you, that you need to see me naked so badly, I might not necessarily say no" Sae shrugged

Akechi's eyes widened as his gaze followed to her.

"R-Really?" He gulped

"Yeah" She nodded casually "Why not? What's a little favor between friends?"

Akechi gulped once again, could he really just..._ask _Sae to do that? Goddamn, Sae was a great colleague

"Sae-sa-"

"No" She cut him off and began to walk away "Not now, not ever"

"Bu-" He tried to follow up

"I said _might_" She snapped back, and it's now that he realized that she really was just teasing him this whole time. Damn it, she'd played him like a fiddle

Not that he wanted to see her naked anyway of course...

...

Look, she put the damn idea in his head okay?

_PING PING_

"Huh, look at that..." Sae chuckled at the contents of the message "She'll be back late since she went back to his place, how nice of her"

Akechi's eyebrows raised at this, Sae was taking that surprisingly well considering their activities today.

"And you're...okay with that?" Akechi questioned. Sae smiled at him

"Of course, she's responsible" Sae said as she showed him the contents of the message "See? She'll be back later because they're studying"

...

...

...

"OH SON OF A-" Sae roared before she darted down the street "MAKOOOOTTOOOOOOOO! DON'T YOU DARE! YOU'RE TOO YOUNG!"


	20. Breaking the News to Sae

_Another short one. I really like these Sae stories. I kinda wish ATLUS would make Joker an actual character instead of a blank slate so he could have a family. I really wish he had an aloof older brother I could ship Sae with_

* * *

_"Ren, just go and tell her. She'll let you marry me, she had to see this coming." Makoto said as they stood in the apartment they shared. "Sis deserves to know she's going to be an aunt."_

_"Remind me again why I can't take my phone?" he asked._

_"Because you'll use it to hop into the metaverse to get away. It will keep you peaceful and respectful when talking to Sis, because you rely too much on it at times where you don't even need it, and because Sis won't attack an unarmed man, she's too prideful. Now just suck it up like a man and go talk to her, or will I have to tell everyone that you were a coward and couldn't even relay a small bit of information to my sister?"_

She had given him the ultimatum and so he marched through the large train doors and walked out into the streets of Shibuya. Then his palms were sweating as he was standing in view of the Niijima apartment complex. He was terrified of her saying "no". It was deja vu all over again as he remembered the day a year and fifty-four days ago. That was the day Makoto had told her she was moving out of their apartment and moving in with Ren. That day was different in the fact he had the Metaverse app ready to go. He was terrified of her saying "no", but then there what would she say no too? She knew they were in a serious relationship, would she really be surprised that they wanted to get married and have kids? Hell, his girlfriend, her sister, was already pregnant and she couldn't change that. He ran his hand through his hair self-consciously.

He had a very healthy respect for Sae's powers, she was an amateur kickboxer Makoto had informed him. He had been working on Aikido with Makoto recently and presently was on a fairly decent level, usable but not reliable. And without access to the Metaverse, he was a sitting duck if Sae decided to get angry.

"Hey RenRen!" He jumped a mile into the air as he heard a voice behind him. He turned and saw it was Ryuji. "What's got your panties in a knot?".

"Makoto confiscated my phone so I could have a _civil _conversation with Sae. The topic of conversation is not the best one to have with her without some protection." Ren moaned

"How bad could the topic be? You already moved in together." Ryuji shrugged.

"Bad enough that I begged to take her phone if I couldn't take mine purely for protection." Ren groaned.

"What? Did you finally get Makoto preg-"

"Shhhh!" he hissed at him, waving his arms like an idiot, "Yes, now shut up!"

"She isn't gonna hear you all the way out here" Ryuji grumbled before patting his friend on the shoulder with a smile "I feel for you man. Congrats anyway."

"C-Could you come with me? Help me?" Ren pleaded as Ryuji began to walk away.

"What help would I be? If I were to be there when Sae kills you, I would have to testify against her. Then she would go to jail and do you really want a pregnant Makoto to visit her Sis in Jail?" Ryuji sighed before he took.

"Do you know how dumb that sounded?" He shouted to his retreating back.

"How dumb what sounded, Amamiya?" A seldom used voice said behind him.

_"FOR REAL?!"_ _Ren cried "Oh god, I'm stealing Ryuji's catchphrases"_

"S-S-Sae-san!" He squeaked, then winced because of the squeak. "N-Nothing!"

"I heard my name mentioned, did you come here to speak to me?" Sae asked with a slight head tilt

"I-I...did" Ren gulped, sweating like a waterfall

"I was on my way back home, come in" Sae said, _damn it _he thought, if he did it in a public place there'd at least be witnesses so she couldn't flay him alive

_**NIIJIMA HOUSEHOLD**_

"Come in and speak." Sae said , entering the apartment. Ren nodded and bowed her head respectfully walking in behind her.

They both took a seat on opposite ends of the couch, Ren was even more nervous as they sat down, thank god she didn't lock the door. He needed a quick escape if possible

Much the meek one today aren't you?" She asked. Ren glared at her from under the fringe of his hair but otherwise ignored the question. "Well now, no snide comeback to say to me?"

"I'm not in the mood to initiate fights with my wife's beloved _Sis_." Ren said as he patted his legs. "Besides, I plan on sticking around for a long time. I came here to tell you something."

"Well go on then?" Sae raised an eyebrow

"You deserve to know this because Makoto loves you and I love her" Ren said right to her, Sae's confusion only intesified "I intend to marry her"

"I see..." Sae hummed "And you're here to ask me for her hand in marriage?"

"Actually...I'm here to tell you something else" Ren gulped, he could no longer look her in the eye

"Something other than her hand in marriage?" Sae asked, confused

"Y-You're...going to be an aunt" Ren said out loud. There it was, out in the open. He told her

She didn't even bat an eyelash as she darted to her feet and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. A bead of sweat rolled down the back of his neck as Sae's intense eyes burned right through him.

"You're not going to kill the father of your soon to be niece or nephew are you?" He asked, not quite presenting the question in the way he wanted but at least not sounding like a scared little girl.

"No, I'm merely going to warn him." Sae said. Mentally Ren gulped as he heard her softest, deadliest voice. "If you ever do anything to intentionally harm that child, or Makoto for that matter, I will kill you and I won't bother with honor. I'll just kill you in your sleep. I knew this was coming and you're lucky you told me you were getting married first. But if you do anything to harm them, _you are dead_."

Ren mentally backed up five feet, knowing that if he did physically he would have ran through the wall. The next second Sae let go of him and he fell back onto the couch.

"Message received." Ren said icily, trying to leave the room with a little dignity in tact.

"By the way, Amamiya," Sae said as he reached the door, forcing him to stop with the door open. He turned his head just enough to be able to see him out of the corner of my eye as she spoke again. "Congratulations."

He nodded and as he left, he could've sworn he saw a smile grace her lips.

* * *

"How did it go?" Makoto asked as Ren entered their apartment, Ren's response was to merely collapse onto their couch "That bad huh?"

"It wasn't so bad, I lived" Ren groaned "I _think _she approved"

"Well that's good" Makoto gulped as she sat down beside him and began to rub his back "Good..."

"What's wrong?" Ren asked as he pulled himself up, something was clearly up with Makoto

"I-I went to the clinic today" She said solemnly, just the implication of that statement sent Ren's heart into his throat

"What? What is it?! Is it the baby?! Is it you?! What's wro-"

"Calm down, calm down!" She soothed him as she put her hand on his chest "Everything's fine, I'm fine, the babies are fine, everything's okay!"

_Well thank god for th-_

_..._

_Wait_

_Babies?_

_PLURAL?_

"Twins?" Ren whimpered, Makoto shook her head

"Triplets" Makoto gulped as Ren's eyes widened

Sae was going to hunt him down and gut him like a fish...


	21. How Daddy saved Mommy

_DOUBLE UPDATE TODAY! WHY NOT! _

_Follow up to Chapter 16._

* * *

**_Note_**_: **Decemeber 4**. I've changed the ending to this one, wasn't happy with it_

* * *

Ren was sitting up in bed, reading his book while listening into the baby monitor for any signs that the baby had woken up. None so far. Sighing, he reached a hand down and tangled it in Makoto's hair, smiling when she moaned in her sleep and curled closer to him, putting her head in his lap.

The book was really boring, but he had woken up about thirty minutes ago, expecting the baby to be crying like he usually did at this time of night. But he was nearing four-months-old, so maybe, just maybe, he was sleeping through the night now.

Not likely.

All he heard in the baby monitor was the gentle rustling of the baby in his sleep and his gentle breathing. Hiromu was a sweet baby, but he tended to be loud, and Ren wanted to get to him in seconds if he started crying, because he didn't want to wake Makoto, who had been taking care of both the children for the last week while he was at work.

Just as Ren was about to go back to his book, he felt a light pressure on his side of the bed. Looking down, he saw his daughter, Maya, trying to climb up onto the bed.

Careful not to wake Makoto, Ren climbed out of bed and hoisted the little girl up in his arms. She giggled quietly as he walked her out of the room.

"What's wrong sweetie?" he asked.

"I had a bad dream," she said, sticking her fingers in her mouth and laying her small head on his shoulder. He smiled as he brushed his fingers through her shiny, soft brown hair.

"Really?" Ren asked.

She nodded her head and wrapped her arms around his shoulder as he walked back into the room she shared with her baby brother. After laying her down on her bed, he climbed in next to her and pulled her bright pink quilt over both of them.

"What was it about?" he asked, smiling when she snuggled her tiny two-year-old body into his arms.

"Killer Panda's."

Ren blinked, then kissed her forehead.

"Did I ever tell you how much you are like mommy?" He asked. Maya shook her head.

"No."

"Well, you are. You're beautiful like her, too. When you grow up, your baby brother will have to protect you from all the bad guys like Daddy did for Mommy. Or maybe your knight in shining armour will do that."

"How did you pwotek Mama?" Maya asked, her bright silver eyes glowing with happiness as she waited to be told the story that Ren told her at least twice a week. Makoto usually joined in, and together they would tell their daughter of their adventures in the Metaverse, changing small things and omitting violence.

"Well, one day, while Daddy, Uncle Ryuji, Uncle Yusuke and Aunt Ann were coming back from school, Mommy did a really silly thing and a really bad man tried to take money from Mommy, and said he wanted money from all of us, or he would take Mommy away. Daddy and his friends went into the special world so he could save mommy."

"And did you?" Maya asked. She knew the end of the story, she knew it all, but she still loved to ask the same questions and see the different answers she would get.

"We'll get to that," Ren said, tickling her for a second before hugging her again. "Daddy and Mommy went to get stronger, and ended up facing the bad man. Mommy got so angry that she built a motorbike right then and there just to run over the bad mans guards!"

Maya always giggled at that part of the story

"But Daddy and Mommy had to train more before he could win. And our friends came with us. Uncle Ryuji, Aunt Ann and Uncle Yusuke. They all helped us. And a cat."

"Morgana!" Maya cheered, to her knowledge, Makoto was just a regular house cat. Maya laughed. She took her slobbery fingers out of her mouth and patted Ren's face. "Meow".

"Yep, meow. Anyway, they fought away the bad man and he agreed to leave them alone forever and then he ran away, never to be seen again." Ren smiled "Then later on, Daddy met Auntie Sae!"

"Auntie Sae!" Maya cheered

"Auntie Sae was mean and wanted to fight daddy because he thought he was too cool, or something like that." Ren hummed

"No she didn't!" Maya laughed

"Did too!" Ren mock pouted "And when Daddy and Mommy fought Auntie Sae, she would cheat! She tricked Daddy and she smacked him!"

"Like how Mama smacks you when you're being silly?" Maya asked. Ren stuck his tongue out at her.

"Yeah. Only...Mommy hits harder. Anyway, after Daddy and his friends stopped Auntie Sae, Daddy had to fight a lot of people to make sure Mommy and our friends could get away. After that, he didn't see Mommy for a while, but when he finally saw her for the first time afterwards, he wanted to hold her in his arms, but our friends didn't know Mommy and Daddy were together, and they didn't wanna risk he couldn't because mommy's crazy Sis-"

"Auntie Sae!" Maya yelled happily once again, bouncing in the bed. Ren stuck two fingers to his mouth, motioning for her to be quiet. "You weally strong!"

"Yeah," he said softly, smiling at her. "Anyway, after a few days, Daddy found that a man who hurt him before was going to hurt a lot more people! Mommy was going to be hurt too if he didn't stop him. So Daddy promised he would do anything it took to save Mommy and everyone else. What made him able to gain that power was Mommy. He was afraid that he would never see her again, so he gained the power he needed to save her."

"And you did, right?" Maya asked, her eyes wide. Ren nodded.

"I saved Mommy and everyone else, Daddy saved mommy." Ren smiled

"And they lived happily ever after!" Maya finished.

"No...not yet," Ren said, his eyes going wide as he tried to make Maya excited. "Daddy had to fight a big cup before they lived happily ever after. He won, but afterwards Daddy had to go away for a while. Mommy was sad. But Daddy came back, but then he had to go away again. So Daddy and Mommy were sad. But then he came back, and Mommy was so happy" Ren smiled as he finished the retelling

"When was I born?" Maya asked with a cute head-tilt

"Seven years later." Ren told her "Daddy and Mommy got married six years later and then a year after that, they had a baby."

"And I was that baby!" Maya said happily, snuggling into Ren's side and wrapping her tiny arms around him. He smiled and kissed her hair. Maya said sleepily, "I love you Daddy. I love Mama, too."

Ren smiled and stood up and got out of her small bed. After tucking her in tightly and kissing her again, he leaned down and said,

"Are you scared of the killer panda's anymore?" She shook her head.

"Nah. You and Mommy will fight them!" She smiled

Ren smirked and walked over to Hiromu's crib, where he was still sound asleep. Satisfied, Ren makes his way back to bed and crawled back under the covers. As he did, Makoto's shifted over, placing her head on his pectoral, softly moaning as Ren wrapped his arms around her.

"Killer Pandas huh?" she mumbled, she must've heard him over the baby monitor.

"Yeah. Killer Panda's, insane sisters and cats."Ren sighed. Makoto snuggled further alongside him.

"You know..." Makoto hummed with a smile, looking up at him "Mommy loves Daddy too..."

"And Daddy loves Mommy" Ren finished. "Killer Panda's or not. Though those old plushies of yours come close."

"Don't be mean" Makoto pouted

_"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"_

"Oh..." Ren groaned as Hiromu's cries rang out over the baby monitor, he grumbled as he stepped outta bed "Any chance you wanna get this one?"

He looked back, she was already asleep again


	22. And Three Makes a Family

_I just wanna say, I really enjoy writing this fic, Persona 5 helped me cope with a lot of stuff and this fanfic does too. If you were familiar with me before I wrote this, you know I have a lot of health issues, both physical and mental, it's pretty much the reason I disappeared from this website for 4 years. So I'm grateful to ATLUS for a lot, mostly for these two Phantom Thieves who I love so damn much_

_Anyway, this is a follow up to Chapter 20. Truth be told, I never intended to follow that one up, or introduce a 3rd ShuMako kid. Even though most of these are set across different universes, I've always intended to keep them a 2 child family with their daughter Maya and their son Hiromu, and had the Triplets-bomb dropped solely for the sake of an ending punchline. But I wanted to do a Giving Birth story eventually and couldn't think of a better way than this._

_It's also bit of a fix fic for Sae, I feel like I had her come across as too mean in that story. I kinda like having her teasing Ren rather than outright harassing him, unless it's for humor, like Chapter 19. I REALLY wanna give Joker an older brother, just so Sae can have __**something**__ but I don't wanna stray too far off the story path. I enjoy writing Sae being a bit uncomfortable with her sister's boyfriend but ends up getting swayed to him with a bit of teasing at the end, but I don't wanna go too far. I wanna write stories about her trying to avoid him when he stays over for the night but happily accepts the dinner he cooked for Makoto and her, not stories where she comes up with a convoluted plan to break him and Makoto up, only for it to somehow end up with her trapped outside naked in broad daylight while Ren and Makoto point and laugh or something._

_I also really need to go back and proofread a lot of these, there's a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes_

* * *

Sae's day had started fairly normally. Work wasn't too frantic today, it was just a small legal office she worked at now after giving up being a prosecutor all those years ago so it was never too busy unless there was a big case going on or, god forbid, someone had eaten someone else's lunch in the fridge.

Speaking of lunch, she was on her way to buy some. Makoto was always the cook in the family and she had moved out almost 2 years ago, Sae's talents in the kitchen never really matched up to what her sister was capable of, so most of the food in the Niijima household was now ordered over the phone or bought ready-made from a convenience store.

She walked in the store just located around the corner from the office and made her way to the back where they kept the bento boxes. She felt like a beef one today. Welp, no luck with that, they were out, just her luck. With a sigh, she settled for Teriyaki chicken and picked up a bottle of juice to go with it. Non-carbonated of course

_PING PING_

She wanted to ignore that, it was probably just someone from the office asking her to buy them a bento as well. She grumbled but she figured it could be an important message from her boss, so with a grumble, she set her intended purchase down back on the shelf and pulled out her phone

It was from Ren Amamiya, her brother-in-law. It had only been seven months after the wedding. They decided to finally tie the know after they discovered that Makoto was pregnant, with triplets no less

Speaking of;

_"Makoto's in labor. Get here NOW"_

Sae's eyes widened in shock as she read the message. She shoves her phone in her pocket and darts out the store, forget lunch, this was just a smidge more important. Thankfully she could get there quick. Taxi's were lined up just down the street. She darted as fast as she could in those damn heels and practically jumped into the first one she saw.

"The hospital! Quickly!" She demanded

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" The poor man stutters as they set off for the destination right away "Is everything okay?"

"Baby's coming, baby's coming, baby's coming" Sae pants breathlessly.

"O-Oh my god! Ma'am has your water broke?!" The driver practically screamed "Have the contractions start-"

"Not me you idiot!" Sae snarled "My sister is giving birth right now! So step on it!"

It takes ten minutes for them to arrive and she dashes out as soon as she's paid the driver. She runs to the front desk and asks with what little breath she still has;

"Makoto Niijima, I'm her sister, her room" She pants "She's pregnant, I need to be there"

The receptionist gives her Makoto's room and she's off again, or at least she would be if it wasn't so many floors up. She has to wait for the elevator and endure the long ride afterwards. Sure enough, she's not alone in there, and some dumbass is trying to put the moves on her. One glare from her is all she needs to convey her message;

_Fuck off_

The doors open and with what little stamina she has left, she's once again running down the hall, desperately looking for the delivery room. Thank god, she's found it. She tries to walk in but there are two doctors blocking her

"Ma'am, you can't come in" One informs her

"Please, I'm Sae Niijima, my sister's in there" She gets out inbetween catching her breath "I have to be there"

"Sae Niijima-san?" The other doctor questioned "Makoto-san mentioned you"

"Yes, now please let me in, I need to be there for her" Sae tries to plead but they once again block her off

"Sae-san, you should know..." The Doctor gulps "There have been…difficulties. It's taking longer than expected."

"Difficulties?" Sae asks with wide eyes as her heart jumps into her throat. Oh no, oh no no no, please for the love of god don't let there be anything wrong with Makoto or the babies...

"**I'M GOING TO KILL YOU REN!**"

Ah, those kind of _difficulties_

Makoto's voice can be heard loud and clear, and Sae snickers. That brings back some memories. She was only a kid at time, but she can remember her Mother saying the same thing to her Father when she was giving birth to Makoto. She hears another loud scream from Makoto, and Sae decides he probably shouldn't barge in at the moment.

In the delivery room, Ren made the mistake of getting a bit too close to Makoto when she screamed, and she grabs him around the throat and begins to choke him. The nurse tries not to pay attention to the violence, since it's rather common during the labor, if the man is brave enough to be present at the time the woman is in the most excruciating pain in her life that is.

"This is all your fault…all your fault Ren!" Makoto snaps

"Makoto…can't breathe…" Ren's voice is barely a gasp, but after seeing her in so much pain, he feels rather relieved that he can feel some too. Anything to alleviate her own pain.

"Do you have any idea how much this hurts?!" Makoto roars into his face, which is turning red from a lack of air.

"Sorry…" Ren gasps out, before he finally grabs her wrists and tries to pry her from him. He can't get her hands loose, and he starts to see flashes of light around his head.

She lets go voluntarily, just before her next contraction comes, and Ren steps back and breathes deeply. The midwife doesn't look the least bit concerned about him, because Makoto's face is contorting in pain.

"You asshole! You're responsible for this! This agonizing pain is all your fault!" Makoto yells, before she lets out a scream. Ren gives the nurse a very concerned look.

"Is she going to be okay?" Ren asks, and Makoto's eyes narrow at him before she shakes her fist.

"You'd better hope not! If I'm okay when I'm done, I'm kicking your ass!" Makoto roars, and the midwife coughs to cover up a tiny laugh that started to escape her lips. The nurse smiles too, since Makoto's feistiness hasn't decreased since the pains first started.

"She'll be just fine," The nurse assures him, and Makoto glares.

"My body feels like it's being ripped in half! Fuck you Ren! Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you!" Makoto shrieks as another contraction comes on.

Ren grabs her hand, but that ends up being a mistake. She squeezes his hand so hard, that he's extremely grateful that her hand wasn't around his neck for that contraction. She could have easily crushed his larynx if she'd squeezed his neck, the way she's squeezing his hand.

"Here we go!" The midwife says, and Ren's heart skips a beat. His face is finally at it's normal color, though he's sure his hand will need to be treated after she's done giving birth. It feels like she's crushing his bones.

"You're doing great, Makoto-chan!" The nurse says encouragingly, and Makoto's eyes tear over as she looks at her.

"I just want it to be over!" Makoto wails, and she nods her head in sympathy.

"It will be, very soon. I promise." She whispers, and Ren leans over Makoto, since he's feeling really bad for her. It was an idiot decision on his part, because Makoto's eyes get very angry when she sees him getting closer, and she smacks him across the face so hard, that it's heard out in the waiting room.

Ren jumps back and puts a hand up to his cheek. It's burning so hot, but then Makoto starts to scream, and he's distracted.

"Here comes baby number one!" The midwife says, and Makoto's eyes widen

"You really are an asshole, Ren!" Makoto's voice is so furious…here she thought she was practically done, only to find out only one of them are coming out a time!

"It's a girl!" The midwife says, and she smiles as the baby starts to cry. She hands the baby to a nurse, who immediately rushes to get the baby cleaned up.

"A girl!" Ren says in wonder, as he tries to get a peek at his firstborn child, who is hidden from his sight now that she's being cleaned up. He can hear her though. She's not nearly as loud as her mother is, as she's still in intense labor.

"You're not going to get a break, baby number two is on its way!" The midwife announces, and Ren's attention is back on Makoto who starts to scream, and he wonders what he should do.

"Hold her hand, Amamiya-kun." The nurse instructs him, when she sees the uncertain look on his face. Ren immediately rushes forward, to listen to her instructions...no matter how much it hurts.

"This is too much! It's hands off for you from now on! I mean it!" Makoto shouts, and Ren blushes. The sound of a second baby crying causes Ren to stare in wonder at the baby in the midwife's arms.

"Here he is!" The midwife says, and the nurse pauses with the first baby to take the second little girl from the midwife. She calls another girl in the room to help, but Makoto is out of it, in pain since her contractions have stayed painfully strong.

"I think you hate me! How could you do this to me?!" Makoto yells, and Ren's eyes widen.

"I do not hate you!" Ren shouts, and everyone in the room gives him a warning look.

"Are you yelling at me while I'm in labor!? You asshole!" Makoto shouts, and Ren just opens and closes his mouth. "Fuck you Ren! You have the sperm from hell, you know that? Three!? I would have been happy with one!"

Sae can hear her screams and blushes at the argument they're having

"Well what about you?!" Ren says, not realizing his error, or the fact that the only reason he doesn't have a black eye right now is because she's gripping the railings of the bed.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?! What do you mean, what about me?!" Makoto roars, and Ren turns white.

"Nothing…" Ren says, feeling that calling her an egg releasing maniac can wait, until she doesn't have killing intent shining in her eyes.

"You're damned right nothing!" Makoto shouts, before she starts screaming again. Ren is so distracted, he completely fails to notice the midwife pulling out another little girl, with the same dark hair as him.

"Another girl." The midwife announces, as the baby begins to cry. Makoto finally calms down a bit, even though she can still feel contractions. Finally, she's handed her first child, her daughter

Makoto's eyes widen as her daughter grabs a hold of her finger and squeezes it tightly. Her heart melts instantly.

"I can't believe I'm saying this…but you were worth it." Makoto says in an aching voice.

Within a half hour, everyone is cleaned and covered up enough to be able to accept company. Sae is finally allowed in, and everyone is smiling.

"Hey Sis" Makoto weekly greets with a smile

"You did great" Sae smiles before planting a kiss on her Sisters forehead, and her eyes light up at the sight of all of the babies in the room. "Babies are everywhere..."

"You wanna hold one?" Ren tells him, and Sae's eyes soften right up as he stands next to him, while he's holding her nephew in her arms.

"He looks like you, doesn't he, Makoto?" Sae says, with happiness filling his voice. Makoto smiles at her.

"He does." Makoto nods as Ren hands Sae their second born.

"Three babies! Three new Niijima's" Sae laughs lovingly, her eyes watering up at the small bundle in her arms. God, she was going to spoil all three of them rotten...

"Well...Amamiya's" Ren shrugs

"We agreed on Amamiya-Niijima" Makoto glares and Ren gulps, he doesn't care that the worst of it is over, he doesn't dare anger Makoto again

"What are their names?" Sae asks and Ren pauses

"Well..." Ren scratches the back of his head

"What?" Sae asks her brother-in-law before turning to Makoto, who gives her the same regretful look

"We had a lot of trouble at that part..." Makoto sighs as Sae raises her eyebrows.

"We had to prepare. just incase we ended up with three boys or three girls" Ren explains "But...we could only agree on two names. One for a boy, and one for a girl. We couldn't agree on anymore.

"Well don't take too long, they need names! You'll need a real home, instead of that dinky apartment." Sae tells Ren, who suddenly starts to look panicked.

"We planned for three babies...we'll manage" Ren says, even as he imagines three babies crying at the same time.

"Well, I have something that will make it easier." Sae says, and Ren looks at his sister-in-law hopefully for the first time in a long time.

"How?" He asks

"I'll help you, I have enough stored away for you to be able to afford an actual home" Sae says as Ren's jaw drops open "I'm also going to stay with you for a while, to lend you a hand"

"I can't ask that of you" Ren shakes his head "That's too much"

"It's not. Nothing is too much" Sae shook her head back "For your family...my family, I'll do whatever I can to help"

"Damn…I...thank you." Ren says in wonder.

Everyone gets a chance to hold a baby, and since there are so many, there are smiles and joy everywhere.

Ren is smiling proudly, since he is currently without a child in his arms, and Makoto reaches over and rubs his back quickly. Ren quickly looks at her in shock and she smiles happily up at him.

"I'm sorry I was so mean…I really love you." Makoto says, and Ren smiles.

"I love you too." Ren says in wonder, her attitude sure did a 180

"So...names" Sae clears her throat

"Our first girl is Maya and our son is Hiromu" Makoto declares "And our second daughter..."

"I like Reina" Ren says out of the blue

"I don't" Makoto glares and Sae gulps

It takes them a few moments of back and forth rejection, but they still can't come up with a name for their second daughter. Finally Ren just sighs and turns to Sae

"If you've got any suggestions, we're open to them" Ren tells her and her eyes widen

"M-Me?" Sae gulps as Makoto nods. The pressure is on her but she begins to rack her brain. Makoto's name meant _Truth_, her name meant _Skillful_, she picked her brain for something similar to those two. _Truthfulness...Authentic...Genuine?_

Okay, roll with that last one for a moment. Genuine had the same Kanji as the _Truth_ in Makoto's name, what's the most genuine thing in a family? Not Truthfulness or Skills. Love...

A name that means _Genuine Love_...

"Mai" Sae says

"Mai?" Makoto questions "It's a bit too similar to Maya..."

"Yes...but it has the kanji for your name (真) , which means Truth. And it also has the Kanji for love (愛)" Sae explains with a smile "There's nothing more genuine than the love in a family"

Both Ren and Makoto smile at that, in fact, they're both getting a little misty eyed. Ren walks over and takes his youngest daughter into his arms

"Hey Mai" Ren smiles which causes Sae to smile too

"I can't imagine calling her anything else" Makoto chuckles "Mai Amamiya-Niijima..."

Everyone agrees that they did well in picking out names for the children. Sae is the proudest beaming aunt that anyone has ever seen, and for once in her life, all she has is praise for Ren Amamiya.

"I wish Mom and Dad were here" Makoto quietly says out of the blue. It's clear that her words have affected Sae too

"Me too..." Sae mutters as she looks down to the sleeping infants "They would've absolutely loved them..."

Ren feels sadness fill the room, it's understandable, he wishes Makoto and Sae's parents were here too, but he doesn't want them to feel like today isn't wonderful. That today isn't the most wonderful day of his life. Just thinking that causes all the emotion of the day to finally get to him

"Hey, what's wrong?" Makoto asks concerned, as tears are dripping down Ren's face

"I'm a Dad" Ren tearfully smiles causing Makoto to beam happily "I've never been more happy than I am right now. Maya, Hiromu, Mai. They're all completely perfect"

Ren kisses his wife proudly as Sae smiles at the happy couple

"The new mother needs to get some rest, but the new father can stay and rest with her." A nurse says, with a knowing smile.

"Our friends will be here soon" Makoto explains "We've already been through so much, I can wait to rest for a little longer"

Sure enough, the entire Phantom Thieves group are there in minutes. All of them gaze at the beautiful children, Ryuji promised to teach them how to run track, Ann weeped at how cute they were, Haru promised them free baby food from her company and Futaba smacked Yusuke in the head when he pulled out a canvas and a paintbrush to, in his own words; _capture the existential crisis of birth_.

Makoto looks anxiously up at Ren.

"No more, those three are it!" Makoto says in a panicked voice, and Ren chuckles, as he pulls her into his arms.

"Thank you" Ren says softly, before he kisses her cheek.

"It won't be happening again, anytime soon, I promise you!" Makoto says but she smiles at his kiss. Ren stares at her like she's a goddess…

"I'll never stop loving you, everything is perfect, because of you..." Ren tells her, and Sae smiles at them.

She looks around the room, and nods her head happily. For once, she's grateful that Ren Amamiya came into her sisters life, and into hers.

_"Makoto...it looks like we have a whole family again"_


	23. An Itch to Scratch

_Makoto - I know we had plans today, can I take a raincheck? Thanks_

Ren is worried. It's not like Makoto to just cancel on him and on the rare occasion she does, she at least gives him a reason. Is something wrong with her? Sae's currently on a business trip and Makoto is left alone in the their apartment, is she lonely? No? You don't cancel hanging out because you're lonely? Is she sick? If she is, he hopes she gets over it quickly, so that she can enjoy her week of freedom away from her sisters watchful eyes

A few days pass and Makoto doesn't contact him, it's when she doesn't show up to school that he gets concerned. Enough's enough, he can't stop being worried about her. After school is done, he catches the train to the North-section of Shibuya instead of his usual trek to Yongen. He arrives at the Niijima apartment complex and buzzes their intercom

No answer

Okay, now he was _really _worried. He walked up the glass door entrance to the lobby and tried to force it open, no good. Damn it

He's getting desperate, he looks at the list of buzzers once again, Makoto's apartment is 11-4, 11th floor, 4th door on from the left of the elevator. He looks next to it, 11-5 is empty and then he spots 10-6, normally the names above the buzzer are on an engraved sheet of metal. But not this one, it's handwritten on a piece of tape. Someone's newly moved in

Perfect...

_BZZZZZZZZ_

_"Hello?"_

"Hi, I live on the floor above yours, I don't think we've met" Ren said into the speak

_"Oh no, I've just moved in"_

"Ahh, I see. Thing is, I've lost my keys, any chance you can buzz me in so I can knock on my door and see if my dad's in?" Ren asks

_"Oh sure, no problem"_

_BZZZTTTTT_

Ren smirks as his plan goes off without a hitch, he pushes open the glass doors and enters the small lobby with a couch and mailboxes, they're two elevators there and he takes the one of the left and selects the eleventh floor.

He's nervous once again, he gulps, he _really _hopes there's nothing wrong with Makoto.

_DING_

He quickly walks out and find the door with "Niijima" written on it on a small plate. He gulps once again before he knocks on the door

No answer

"Makoto" He yells out as he knocks it a few more times "It's me"

Still nothing, he's getting _very _worried now

"Please, if you're in there, let me know" Ren groans as he places his ear to the door, trying to hear something, anything, to indicate she's in there "Please, I've been worried about you"

He pounds the door fiercely over and over again, trying to summon her. But there's nothing, what the hell is going on? Where is she?

"Damn it" Ren grumbles as he runs his hands through his hair. He's on the verge of calling Ryuji is to see if he has a baseball bat he can borrow to smash the door down. His mind is assuming the worst now, maybe Makoto had a bad fall in the shower, and she's been lying there in agony with a broken leg for days now. What if she tripped and split her head open on the coffee table? Oh god, what if she's lying there bleeding out right now?! No, it's been days now, she'd already be dea-

"Stop it!" Ren growls at himself, trying to force the dark thoughts out of his mind. But he's getting more scared by the second, he's _not _leaving without getting into that apartment. Damn it, if only he'd crafted some lockpicks during break. Morgana would be no help as he wasn't here, the cat had been spending the last few days shedding his winter fur and refused to leave LeBlanc incase _Lady Ann saw his humiliating display_

Ren curses, he's seconds away from trying to boot the door down now, until he spots that little square light above the door, every door has one to illuminate the hall at night.

It's a million-to-one shot, both Makoto and Sae were _way _too smart to even think of hiding one up there, they'd know that's the first place someone would look. The only place that would be more obvious would be keeping it under a small rock outside their door. But right now, this was his only option besides trying to knock the door off its hinges. He placed all of his strength into his legs as he leapt up into the air and swiped his hand across the top of the light, hoping to collect something more than dust. And that, he did

Spare key to the Niijima apartment, acquired

"Jackpo-shit, that's hot!" Ren yelped as he dropped the piping hot piece of metal. He blew into his hand to cool it down before pulling his sleeve down slightly to act as a make-shift glove and picking up the key. He slots it into the lock and twists it, unlocking the door.

He peers in, no sign of his girlfriend lying unconscious on the floor, that's good

"Makoto!" He calls out as he closes the door and drops the key on the floor "It's me, I found your spare key, is everything okay?"

"GO AWAY!"

Even though it's clearly in anger, god if was so good to hear her voice again. Ren sighed in relief as his worst nightmares faded away, but he still needed to get to the bottom of this. He could tell from the distance of her shout that she's in her room.

"I'm coming in okay?" Ren says as he walks down the short hallway towards the door

"Get out of here Ren!" Makoto croaks. Ren gulps, Makoto's never raised her voice to him before "I don't want you to see me like this!"

"What are you talking about?" He asks in confusion, as he opens her door. Makoto is completely hidden underneath her polka-dot bedcover, her large Buchimaru-kun plushie sat on top of the sheets.

"I'm going to blast you with Johanna if you take one more step!" Makoto says in a panicked voice, and Ren stops for a second.

"We're not in the Metaverse" Ren informs her as he raises an eyebrow, he feels a bit silly, it's almost like he's talking to the Buchimaru plush "What is going on with you?"

"I-I-I'm naked under here!" Makoto yelps out and _that _causes Ren to freeze. His face turns red and he loudly gulps. W-Was she really? "That's why I'm hiding under the covers! S-S-So go away! I'm not ready for you see to me like this. We're not ready to go that far yet!"

Now that he's put his mind to it, it takes less than a second for him to call her bluff

"So why have you been off the face of the planet for the last few days? I doubt you find prancing around your apartment in the nude so enjoyable that you've locked yourself away and have been nothing but that for the last few days" Ren glares, though the mental image of Makoto dancing around an empty apartment naked almost causes him to roll his eyes into the back of his head. He's very thankful that she can't see his face right now as he wipes away a tiny bit of drool from the corner of his mouth "Further more, you don't sleep naked, you have like six sets of the same Buchimaru PJ's, you told me as much yourself, plus I spotted your laundry hamper in the bathroom down the hall, it was empty so you've clearly got clean clothes to wear. Plus, it's _November _and you have the heating off. You'd have to be insane to be naked unless essential in these conditions"

Makoto's panic only gets worse when her bluff doesn't work. She's never seen herself looking so bad off. She doesn't want to see the look of disgust on his face, so she grabs onto the covers with all her might.

"Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help." Ren says, and Makoto growls.

"Didn't you hear me?! Go away!" She says in a pitiful voice, and the tone of it actually affects his heart, not that he'd admit it.

_"Something is really wrong with her. I guess I have to risk it."_

"Let me see your face." Ren says, and he can hear her unhappy snort in response.

"Like hell! Go away!" She says, and he of course, doesn't listen. "Did you forget that you're in my house? I swear to you Ren…I am so close to blasting a shot of Freidyne at your head right now…"

"Again, not in the metaverse" Ren glares before he's finally had enough and grabs the hem of the covers. "Just let me see you!"

"No!" Makoto yells and she's tugging the covers from underneath. It's a struggle, and it's a lot more difficult than he anticipated it might be.

"Damn it Makoto!" Ren growls, ready to rip her blanket apart, scratch that, it was a Buchimaru sheet, she'd never forgive him.

The struggle lasts well over a minute, before he's finally able to force the blanket away from her, sending the Buchimaru plushie that was on it flying across the room. When he does, she immediately curls up into the fetal position, and hides her face under her pillow. He doesn't need to see her face to see the problem though. He can tell from her back, since her Buchimaru pajama top rode up a bit in their struggle.

"You have chicken pox!" He says in shock.

"Stop!" Makoto's voice sounds so small and upset that he just gapes at her a moment, before she sits straight up to angrily yell at him, and Ren flinches when he sees how many spots are on her face. "Just go away!"

"Damn you got it bad, didn't you?" He asks, and she quickly turns away from him.

"I'm sorry I'm so ugly you can't stand to look at me." She whimpers as she hugs her knee, and he feels like an ass.

"I didn't mean that, it just looks like you got the chicken pox pretty bad. You have them all over your face." He tells her, before he cringes again. Looks itchy as hell…

"Ther's no cure and Sis isn't around, so I've just been lying in bed, trying to ride them out" She moans before she falls back into bed, Ren feels horrible for her.

"Yeah, you just have to ride it out, until they go away. There are preventative measures, but anything beyond that, we'd have to ask Takemi-san." Ren explains, and Makoto groans.

"If you're going into Mementos, you'll have to be on strategist duty, I can hardly fight, feeling as miserable as I do," she tells him.

"I'm not here for Mementos, It's fine. You just rest." Ren tells her, and Makoto just moans.

"Then why are you here?" She groans

"I was worried" Ren admits and Makoto's cheeks turn a little red "You weren't replying to my calls, my texts, you weren't at school. When I opened that door I was scared that I'd find you lying dead on the floor"

"I'm sorry..." Makoto mumbles, now she feels horrible. She'd been so worried about how the others would see her that she didn't bother even informing them of her condition "But you should go, before you get infected with this too..."

...

"I already had them when I was a young kid. After you get them once, you don't get them again." Ren told her as she looked at him with a soft expression, it was clear that she was feeling horrible "You don't need to worry, I'll help you out"

"D-Do you mind just leaving me alone for now?" Makoto asked him "I really feel miserable..."

Ren nods, but before he leaves, he makes sure to give her back her covers and the large Buchimaru-kun toy that was on her bed. He smiles warmly as she pulls it into her arms and snuggles with it before she throws the covers over herself.

"I'll let you rest, but I'm not going home, I'll be in to check on you." He tells her, before he heads to her living room. He pulls out his phone and looks up medical sites about how to ease the discomfort of someone with chicken pox.

When he reads about giving a bath in cool or lukewarm water, he starts to blush insanely. It may be a treatment for chicken pox, but the thought of seeing Makoto, the girl he's madly in love with, and would do anything for, totally nude almost causes him to shake. Doesn't matter anyway, no chance in hell she'd let him give her a cool bath.

Ren decides to contact Takemi. He grabs the phone and dials his number.

"Hello? Takemi-san?" Ren says

_"Ah! My guinea pig. What can I do for you?"_ She asks, and Ren scratches his head.

"My girlfriend's got chicken pox." Ren says simply, and he hears Takemi let out a slight gasp. "Takemi-san, you okay"

_"Fine...didn't know you had a girlfriend"_ She says, Ren is surprised by her tone, she almost sounds angry

"I looked up medical stuff to see what might help her, do you think that would even help?" Ren asks Tae, snapping her from her current thoughts.

_"Definitely. It could help her, and you wouldn't want to see her suffer, would you? You should probably stay very close to her."_ She tells Ren, which causes him some panic.

"Right, the articles say I should give her cold stuff to eat! I need to go to the store!" Ren says, and Tae sighs.

_"Check their fridge, she's a teenage girl, there's ice cream already there, trust me" _She groans _"Check to see if they have a thermometer, check if she's running a fever, it's often a side-effect of chicken pox. Don't give her anything acidic or salty, only let her eat cold food okay? Need anything else call me"_

Ren groans as Tae hands up, there were a million more questions he wanted to ask her. He searches through the drawers to find a thermometer, but find none. He assumes they must have a medicine cabinet somewhere. He checks their bathroom, sure enough they've got one of those mirrors that actually the door to a small cabinet, lots of pills and thankfully he finds a thermometer, buried at the back. He cleans it off before heading toward Makoto's room. He walks into her room where Makoto moans.

"I just want to check your temperature." He tells her, and she doesn't even fight him, which makes him a bit worried. As she sits up, he places his hand on her forehead and gasps when he feels the blazing heat coming off of her head. She's way too hot. He hopes her brain doesn't start frying.

"Go away." Makoto's voice sounds hoarse, and Ren stares at her in worry, before he runs out of the bedroom to get a cold compress.

"I need to try to bring down your temperature a bit." He tells her before he sticks the washcloth against her forehead.

Makoto doesn't want to admit it feels good, so she keeps her eyes closed, and simply stays quiet. After a minute he flips the cloth around, and it feels cool once more. Makoto just breathes deeply, and allows him to take care of her. She can't do much else, anyways.

After a minute, Ren gets up to re-wet the cloth, and make it cool again. He hurries to take care of it, before he comes back to Makoyo. He repeats this act for half an hour, befoe Makoto pipes up.

"I'm hot." Makoto tells him, and he nods.

"I can feel that. You need a cool bath." He tells her, and Makoto thinks that sounds heavenly.

"Yeah that sounds good." She says, and Ren stares at her a second before he stands up.

"I'll go run the water." He tells her before he hurries out of the room. He waits until the tub is half full before he goes to retrieve Makoto. He helps her to the bathroom and warns her not to lock the door in case she falls asleep in the tub.

Makoto blushes at the mere idea of that happening, and even worse, him having to come inside and get her if that happened. She's already inspected her body, and she is not at all comfortable with the quantity of bright red bumps that have appeared.

She's careful to be alert while in the tub, and she feels an immense amount of relief being in there. She stays in there for a good thirty minutes, before she finally forces herself to gather the strength to get out, dry off, and get a fresh pair of pajamas on.

As she returns to her room, Ren opens her freezer and sure enough, there's an unopened pint of vanilla ice cream which he puts most of in a bowl and pours her a cold orange juice. He quickly puts the ice cream, juice, and other items away so that they don't go bad, before he goes back back to her room, and when he feels Makoto's head, he starts to panic.

"Do you want some ice cream?" He asks her, and Makoto smiles.

"Actually that does sound kind of good." She tells him, since she can already feel the heat returning to her body, and even worse, she's beginning to feel itchy.

While he dashes back to kitchen to ger her ice cream for her. Makoto rubs her arms, and groans from discomfort. It's hard to deal with this, having the chicken pox sucks.

A few seconds later, Ren is back in the room. He watches her eat, and then he continues to worry about her, even as she begins to scratch at her legs, right in front of him.

"Don't scratch! You can't do that." He tells her, and she glares at him.

"It's impossible not to scratch. It itches." She argues, and he glares back at her.

"If I have to get in that bed and hold you still, I will." He threatens, and Makoto's hand stills.

"Then you'll get the chicken pox." She threatens, but Ren smirks at her.

"I told you, I already had them when I was a young kid. You only get them once." He tells her in a smug voice as he soothes her.

After many uncomfortable hours, she manages to fall asleep, while forcing her hands to remain at her side. Ren calls Sojiro to explain the situation, with a hefty smirk on his face, Sojiro tells Ren to spend the night over there.

The Niijima's couch isn't really built for sleeping and there's no way in hell he's sleeping in Sae's bed, so he borrows one of Makoto's larger Buchimaru plushies on her desk and uses it as a makeshift pillow as he sleeps on her floor

The next morning, it's both better and worse. Makoto's red marks start to open and have already started to scab over, she likes being in his company even less than before. But her fever is finally subsiding, it's a huge relief for him. He was glad when he finally located the calamine lotion, her even more so.

"That's so much better" Makoto moans in relief as Ren rubbed the lotion on her arms and legs, her sleeves and pant legs rolled up to give him access.

"Glad I could help" Ren smiles and Makoto stares adoringly at him

"Thank you" She smiles as she leans over, Ren happily accepts her kiss

"Don't have to thank me for anything" He smiled as their lips broke apart

"What the shit is this?!"

Ren and Makoto jumps out of their skin at the sound of Sae's voice, they twist their head to find her standing in the doorway, looking very, _very _unhappy

"S-Sae-san" Ren gulped

"Why are you in my home at 7am Amamiy-Makoto!" Sae seethes but cuts herself off as she looks at Makoto's face "Oh no, not you too!"

"M-Me too?" Makoto questions as Sae leans down to check her spots

"God, this is all my fault" Sae groans much to Ren and Makoto's confusion "There was an outbreak of chicken pox at my office, no one showed any symptoms until the business trip and the whole thing ended up being a bust. I must've passed it on to you..."

"Wait, so you..." Makoto pressed on

"I've been laid up in a hotel room for the last week, absolutely miserable and trying not to scratch" Sae admits in shame "I was so gloomy and pathetic that I didn't even call to let you know, it didn't even occur to me that you might've been affected too. I'm sorry"

Both Sisters are feeling sorry for each other, while Ren is just casually in the middle of them. He figures he's no longer needed

"I just spent the night to make sure she was okay" Ren explains to Sae as she stands up "Nothing..._happened_, I just didn't want to leave her alone when she was ill"

"Amamiya-kun..." Sae looks at him, he can tell why

"I had chicken pox as a kid, I'll be fine" He tells her before he looks at Makoto "Sae-san's back, so I'll make myself scarce"

"Thank you" Makoto repeats "I'm sorry I was so ignorant, I should've told you right away"

"It's fine, don't worry, I'll see ya" He smiles at her, he wants to kiss her goodbye but he feels that's not a good idea with Sae in the room, so he nods before heading out.

Over the next few days, she never stopped complaining about the constant itchy feeling that consumed her body. Sae hated being tough on her, but he knew that she wasn't supposed to scratch them. It takes a week before Makoto is back to her regular self, and even then she still has the remnants of the chicken pox still visible.

She admits that she's disappointed Ren never came back to visit her, even though he would call to check up. Now that she's healthy again, he heads to LeBlanc to see him

"Ah, you're back" Sojiro greets "Was getting worried about 'ya"

"Good afternoon" Makoto greets "Is Ren in?"

Makoto is confused as Sojiro's reaction is loud _hmph_

"I don't give a crap what he says, he's a damn fool, you know that?" Sojiro sighs, much to Makoto's shock "There's romantic and there's whatever the hell this was"

"E-Excuse me?" Makoto gulps

"He's upstairs if you wanna check on him" Sojiro nods towards the stairs, Makoto does just that. As she makes her way up the stairs, Morgana walks passed her

"Fair warning, he's looking rough" The cat tells her before scampering way

Rough? What did he mean? Was Ren si-

...

No...no, no, he wouldn't

That'd he so stupid, he would never have done that if he hadn't...

Oh god...he _would_ for her...

She dashes up the stairs and quickly locates him, sitting up in bed

Red dots across his face

"Hi~" He waves with a smile

"You...idiot!" She roars at him as she throws her bag down "You didn't have chicken pox as kid at all! I passed them onto you!"

"Yup" Ren chuckles but Makoto doesn't find it funny at all

"You...moron..." She sighs as she stands by his bed "Why would you do that?"

"Because if you knew that, then you wouldn't have let me help" He tells her "You were so miserable, I needed to help whatever it took"

"Sakura-san was right, you're not romantic, you're just stupid!" Makoto growled, giving him a light smack on the back of the head "You're right I would've sent you home, I didn't want you to get them too!"

"I know..." Ren nods before he grimaces and scratches his arm

"Don't scratch! You can't do that." She tells him.

"But yt itches." He argues, and she glares back at him.

"If I have to get in that bed and hold you still, I will." She echoes his line from a few days ago, and Ren's hand stills.

"Please do" He smirks with a smug voice

"Perv" She sneers before letting out a light chuckle "You're an idiot...a sweet idiot, but an idiot nonetheless"

She leans over and gives him a brief but loving kiss, but makes sure he knows that she still's mad at him

"Calamine lotion?" She asks

"Right here" Ren points to the bottle on the windowsill "Man, the looks you get as a teenager buying a bottle of this stuff"

"Cold food?" Makoto questions, ignoring his remark

"Not much, just cold curry" Ren shrugs and Makoto groans

"I'll buy ice cream and cold juice" She sighs as she begins to depart

"I'll pay" Ren offers, holding up his wallet

"Shaddup" She smirks before she walks down the stairs

Ren falls back into bed and smiles happily. Makoto taking care of him as he's sick...well there are worse ways to spend an afternoon

...

"Wish it was just a damn cold or something, not this crap" Ren groans as he scratches his arm


	24. Sleepover

_Cute, fluffy one written most because it's __**fucKING COLD IN MY HOUSE ALL THE DAMN TIME**_

* * *

This was torture, it was inhumane. He shuddered violently as his teeth chattered, breaking up the visible clouds of breath that were leaving him. The covers and clothes provided no warmth whatsoever, he might as well be lying naked in the street

God, how could it be so _**fucking **_cold?!

"This is bullshit" Ren seethed as he tried to wrap himself in the covers but they just tangled and got stuck so he kicked them off in frustration

The basement was zero degrees, dead on zero. It was a freezer and the windows were doing nothing to keep the cold November air out. He could get a better sleep in the actual fridge downstairs.

He quickly grabbed the blanket back and wrapped it around himself, even though it wasn't helping. He was donned in his regular pajamas along with a hoodie and a thick pair of socks and he was _still_ cold. That was infuriating, how?! He was gonna freeze to death at this rate.

LeBlanc was empty except for him, even Morgana had abandoned him to seek somewhere warmer, damn cat, maybe Ryuji was right about him afterall...

11pm and it was ice cold, god, he couldn't imagine what it'd be like in the wee hours of the morning. No, screw that, he wasn't taking that.

He slipped his shoes on and made his way downstairs. Crap, it was still too damn cold down here too. His last plan to try and sleep in one of LeBlanc's booths was foiled too

"This is bullshit" He cursed for the 20th time, his fingers were going numb at this point so he began to rub them together. It was impossible to get some sleep in here, he'd have to find somewhere. Maybe a capsule hotel or hope and pray Ryuji had a spare room. Maybe just knock on Sojiro's door and hope they'll let him crash on the couch.

He had made his mind up. He ran back up the stairs to quickly throw a bag of clothes together for the morning and threw on a proper jacket. Even if he had to patrol the streets all night, it was better than staying here. He quickly threw the bag on and grabbed his phone

_PING PING_

Timing...

Ren hummed as his freezing fingers unlocked the device and opened the message.

_Makoto - Are you okay?_

It was girlfriend, Makoto. Ren gulped as he wrote out the reply

_Ren - Why do you ask?_

_Makoto - It's just...Ann texted me, Morgana asked if he could spend the night with her_

"Of course he did..." Ren groaned

_Makoto - Did you and him have a fight?_

_Ren - Do I look like Ryuji?_

_Ren - He bailed earlier, smart move too. I'm about to do the same_

_Makoto - What do you mean?_

_Ren - It's freezing in LeBlanc, there's no heating whatsoever, it's like an icebox in here_

_Ren - I can't sleep so I'm gonna find somewhere warm_

_Makoto - Is it really that bad?_

_Ren - YES_

Ren's teeth are chattering so he just want to get outta here ASAP. He's about to put his phone away before another message comes through

_Makoto - Are the trains still running?_

_Ren - Yeah, but I wouldn't worry. I'm sure Yongenjaya will have a hotel_

_Makoto - That's not I meant_

Ren's eyebrow raised but he was still freezing his ass off. He sighed as he finally stepped outside and locked the door. The wind hit him like a brick, forget what he said earlier, it _was_ colder outside. Makoto's concern was appreciated but he needed to move

_PING PING_

"Oh come on" Ren groaned as he pulled his hands out of his pocket along with the phone, exposing his bare skin to the cold. He whines as his fingers are practically numb at this point, but he manages to open the message anyway

_Makoto - If you want...you can come over to my house_

Ren's throat freezes and his eyes bug out. They hadn't been dating that long, only a few weeks, and she was already inviting him to spend the night?! No, no, no! She obviously didn't mean it like that!

_Makoto - If you want to, I'm sure it's warmer_

_Makoto - Sis isn't here, so it'll just be the two of us_

Ren's jaw dropped, _did _she mean it like that?!

_Ren - You want me to stay over?_

_Makoto - Well, I don't want you to freeze to death_

Ren calmed himself enough to send a sensible reply

_Ren - So you have a spare room?_

_Makoto - No, but we'll figure something out_

_Makoto - But, only if you want to come over..._

Ren didn't have to think long about it, even if she was propositioning what he thought she was, he'd be happy just to have a warm bed for the night

_Ren - You're a life saver_

_Makoto - So you're coming over?_

_Ren - On my way, need to hurry before the trains go off_

_Ren - See you soon_

As their chat ends, Makoto stares at her phone, gulping loudly as she did. She now realizes what she's told him and how easily it can be misinterpreted. She quickly shakes her head. Ren's not that kind of guy, he knows what she meant, beside it's way too soon for them to even be thinking about..._that_

"He's not expecting me to..." Makoto's says to herself "No, we've only been together for a few weeks"

* * *

Ren breathes on his hands, damn it, he should've brought some gloves too. Well whatever, he was here now, in front of the apartment complex the Niijima Sisters lived in. He quickly checked the intercom

"11-4" Ren reminded himself of her house number before he pushed in the buzzer. He waited for a few seconds before the tone stopped and he heard her voice

_"Ren?"_

"It's me"

_BZZZZ_

Ren's surprised at how short their conversation was, but he was relieved he could get out of the cold faster. He scrambles in and quickly calls the elevator, it arrives quickly as obviously no one is heading out in this weather so his journey to the apartment is getting smoother by the second. He arrives at the floor and quickly peers down the hall, spotting Makoto's head poking out her door

"Come in" She nods to her head, Ren smiles as he spots her, which causes her face to heat up. Ren quickly scrambles into the apartment. He breathes a sigh of relief to finally be somewhere above freezing

"Oh my god, this is so much better" Ren sighs in relief before he turns to her. She was stood there in a long shirt, white with black sleeves and pair of white pants with black polka-dots all over them

Buchimaru-kun Pajama's...

"Umm...why are you staring?" Makoto asks in embarrassment as she averts from his gaze

"Sorry" Ren apologizes as he stops staring "Thank you for this...really, I couldn't get a wink over there"

Makoto nods as Ren takes off his jacket and hangs it up. She's surprised to see he's already in Pajama's, meaning the contents of his bag must be for the morning

"Ummm...Ren?" Makoto gets his attention, her cheeks ablaze as he looks at her but she needs to make sure about this "I know I invited you over, but...you're not...expecting anything tonight...are you?"

Ren's face turns completely red. Truth be told, there was a small inkling in the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, he and Makoto were about to jump several phases in their relationship. But no, and he was fine with that. He was in no rush, he was happy to take his time with his relationship with Makoto

"No, no, nothing like that" He shook his head and Makoto instantly look relieved "I...don't think either of us are ready for something like that"

"Oh, good" Makoto smiles, embarrassing both Ren and herself with what she's said. She quickly clears her throat to reset the tension in the air "Well...you must be exhausted, good night"

"Okay, night" Ren nods right back before looking around the room, Makoto just stares at him. "Where?"

"Huh?"

"Where am I going to sleep?" Ren asks with a shrug

"Oh, the couch" Makoto points and Ren looks over "Sorry, there's Sis' bed, but I decided to do the laundry tonight while she's at work, her sheets are still in the wash"

_"Wouldn't of accepted it anyway" Ren grumbles, he's afraid he'd catch fire if he even stepped into Sae's room_

"You got a blanket?" Ren asks and Makoto smacks herself for forgetting something so simple

"Oh yes, sorry, I'll go get you one" Makoto says as she runs into a room nearby, before exiting empty handed, she enters another, only to leave empty handed "Umm...excuse me a minute"

Makoto runs passed him and runs into another room, runs out and checks a closet. She closes it and gulps loudly before her eyes widen

"Oh no..." She sweats as she runs over, she darts to the kitchen area and looks into the washing machine through the glass "Oh no..."

"Something wrong?" Ren asks, but he's got a pretty good feeling about what she's about to say

"I...don't" Makoto says to him

"You don't have something wrong?" Ren questions as Makoto looks at him with a regretful look

"I don't have a spare blanket" She tells him sadly "I washed all the duvets tonight..."

"Ah..." Ren mutters, he stares blankly at her for a few seconds before shrugging with an audible huff "I guess...I'll just go"

"G-Go?!" Makoto yelps as Ren walks over and slips his shoes on

"It's warmer than LeBlanc but it's still way too cold to sleep with a blanket" Ren informs her as he grabs his jacket off the coat rack "It's fine, I'll see if maybe Ryuji has a spare room"

"Y-You won't get a train, they've just gone off" Makoto tells him, causing him to quickly check his phone, damn, she's right, they've just gone off until the morning

"Shit..." Ren curses, Ryuji's house is quite a while away from here, he can be there in about 30 minutes if he runs, but that would mean going back out in the cold

His thoughts are interrupted as he has to yawn, Makoto gives him a look of pity before an idea enters her head and she blurts it out before it even reaches her brain

"Sleep with me"

Ren drops his jacket in shock, still as a statue as Makoto's face lights up red as her brain finally informs her of how that sounded. Ren's head creaks around and looks at her in shock, Makoto is mortified

"I-I-I-I-I-" Makoto stutters endless before regaining composure "I mean...sleep in my bed"

"O-Oh" Ren gulps as the red begins to fade from his face "Then...where will you sleep?"

"I meant...we could...share" Makoto blushes heavily as Ren freezes once again

"Are you serious?" Ren asks, and Makoto blushes harder. "I mean...are you okay with that?"

"W-Why not? We're just going to sleep." Makoto says quietly. "R-Right?"

"Y-Y-Yeah!" Ren nods quickly, once again assuring her that he's not expecting anything tonight, he removes his shoes again and hangs his jacket back up "If you wanna share your bed, then I'll happily share with you!"

Makoto blushes at his enthusiasm before nodding back, she takes him by the hand and leads him to her room. Ren looks around, it's his first time in Makoto's room and it's fairly bare-bones. Books, a desk, a small table, a crap-ton of Buchimaru plushies and a small single bed. Looks like it would be cramped...

"Umm...I hope you don't mind but..." Makoto says quietly before lifting up her covers, revealing a large Buchimaru plushie underneath "I...I need to be holding Buchi-kun to fall asleep...It's been that way since I was kid"

Ren gives her a look she can't quite describe. He did find it odd that Makoto was closing on 18 years old and slept with a stuffed toy, but he also admitted he found it rather cute

"That's fine" He smiles, much to Makoto happiness "Alright then...we should go to bed"

"Yes" Makoto nods before she clambers under the covers, lying down on the right side, next to the wall, the Buchimaru plushie lying beside her in the center of the bed "Come on, get in"

Ren nods as he slowly walks over, Makoto and the plushie take up a lot of room, there's barely any space left on the bed

"You sure I wouldn't be imposing on you?" Ren asks, and she scoffs.

"I was the one who offered to share it." She reminds him

"You _sure_ you don't mind?" Ren asks in a low voice, as he stares at the bed.

"It's fine." She tells him in a tight voice.

Ren gets into the bed with her. He lays on his back but with Makoto and Buchimaru, there's very little space and his arm is dangling off the side, so he decides to lie on his side, coming face to face with Makoto who's also on her side, hugging Buchimaru who is acting like a barrier between the two

"Hi" He weakly chuckles and she smirks at him

"Get some sleep okay?" She says to him before closing her eyes. Ren smiles happily, because; one, he can finally get some sleep, and two; he's always happy to be close to her beautiful face.

He doesn't close his eyes, instead he stares at her, listening to small noises she's making. She's sound asleep within minutes. Ren breathes softly, he's still a bit cold, though she doesn't seem affected by it, even when he starts to shiver a bit. When Makoto suddenly throws her leg over him and the shivers quickly die down. How she can provide him with such an immense amount of body heat is a mystery to him, but he puts his arm around her, and pulls her closer. Making sure not to hold too tightly incase he bursts her Buchimaru-kun plushie, she'd never forgive him for that.

"Mmmm..."

Ren's eyes shoot wide open at that noise, he instantly realizes it was a soft moan coming from Makoto, an almost erotic sound leaving her lips, what on earth is she doing? Ren blushes as his mind immediately closes in on the thought of her having a dream, a wet dream about him. He feels himself getting turned on as he imagines what she's dreaming of.

"Oh!" Makoto's voice sounds more thick with passion now, Ren can't help but feel a have a notable reaction to it, his erection is brushing her leg and he _really _hopes she doesn't suddenly wake up.

His theory is right, Makoto is dreaming about him, she dreams of Ren sucking on her toes, licking her legs, licking her stomach and her neck. She feels like her body is on fire and she never knew Ren could look so perfect when he was naked. She dreams that he takes his tongue and runs it in between her legs before he slips inside of her.

Ren stares as her face crunches and she begins to moves slightly, unfortunately for him, she ends up shifting the Buchimaru plush and now it's staring him right in the eye, almost as if he's going _"What do you think you're looking at, young man?"_

"Asshole" Ren mutters softly. Makoto making sexy noises is causing him to desire her intensely, but he wouldn't dare even attempt anything unless she was consenting, yet that does nothing to make that desire subside. He falls asleep to these thoughts, thoughts of what it would be like when he could finally have her.

Makoto wakes up a few hours later, heart racing from her very wild and passionate dream, where she and Ren were making love in a pool. She keeps having those dreams again, the kind of dreams where they're touching one another in many different ways, without any clothes on. She's oblivious of the noises she makes during those dreams, so doesn't know Ren fell asleep to the sound of her moans,

She moves the plushie out of the way to look at his face, still soundly asleep. A small smidgen of her mind goes back into that fantasy land and wonders what it would be like if he woke up to find her naked in bed, but she quickly dismisses it.

_"Don't be a moron, you'd only scare him off"_

She looks at him intensely before she moved Buchimaru out of the way and pulled herself closer to him, now holding him tightly in an embrace, cradling his head just above her breast. She smells his hair as she hold onto him. Just having him in her arms makes her feel safe. Ren groans slightly before his arms drift over and wrap around her. She smiles as even though he's asleep, Ren's body just reacts to her presence. She likes the way he cuddles close to her, and his breathing steadies out. She's sure he's asleep already.

"I love you Ren." Makoto whispers, before she prepares to fall asleep.

"I love you too"

She nearly jumps out of his skin when he responds. Her eyes dart down to see him looking at her with a smug expression

"You're awake?" Makoto asks, feeling a bit mortified that their confession went like that, and so smoothly without her intending it to be.

"Well I sure as hell am now" He smiles much to her mortification "Why are you so embarrassed? I mean, we've already slept together"

"That-was-I-no-we!" Makoto fumbles about before whining in frustration at his teasing "Not funny!"

"I'm glad you feel that way" Ren smiles sweetly up to her to make sure she knows he's serious "Thank you..."

"Thank you for the bed, or for loving you?" Makoto hums with a bit of a smirk

"A little bit of both" Ren murmurs as he pulls her close and relishes for real what it's like to be pressed up against her, kissing her soft pink lips.

As they break apart, they just stare at each other for a moment before tightening their grip around each other. Smiling warmly as they close their eyes

"We still a few hours left before the sun comes up" Makoto hums in his ear "No need to get up just yet"

"Sounds good to me" Ren whispers with a smile as the two drift back off to sleep.


	25. Aunts and Uncles

Edit, 28 November: Rewrote most of this chapter, was half asleep when I wrote it and ended up referring to Maya as a 'he' and 'him' several times

* * *

_Aunt Haru_

Haru was the CEO of the Okumura food conglomerate. She was a leader, teacher, and friend to many. So when Makoto and Ren's daughter was born, she was still considered an adviser, and friend to both parents who were the leaders of their old group. As for the baby, well, at the moment she was sort of a sitter/teacher, but Haru hoped that as the years went by she would always remain a guardian, friend, and counselor to the child.

She held up the bag of sugary treats, and asked, "Maya-chan, can you say, snacks?"

The baby giggled. Haru noticed she did that a lot; she was an extraordinarily happy little person.

"Good enough for me." She cracked the bag open, took out a sticky pink square, bit it into a smaller chunk, and then popped the other piece into the baby's mouth.

It was quite amusing watching her gnaw on the pink blob, her cherubic face scrunched up while the candy dissolved on the flat of a plump tongue. A rope of brightly colored drool dripped down her chin.

"Now, can you say, Auntie Haru?'"

Maya made a high pitched sound and Haru popped another pink chunk into her mouth. "Good." It didn't matter whether or not the baby could actually speak or how silly Haru looked talking to a drooling infant. The point was to instill a sense of camaraderie, and of course to feed the baby snacks. Because everybody knew that babies loved snacks!

Next, Haru picked up the phone lying at her side. "Can you say telephone?"

The baby blinked and gave her an uncertain look.

"You're right," said Haru, splitting a third square in half. "That word is a little too hard for you at this age. However, you should always try to master difficult things. If you never surpass the hard things in life, you will never grow stronger. So how about, Persona? Can you say, Persona?"

"Dah!"

"Good!"

"Haru?" Ren said from the door.

"Ren-kun! Back so soon?"

"Yeah." Ren scratched his head. "What are you doing?"

"Why, educating of course!"

Well, Haru wasn't just teaching; she was beginning the relationship between student and mentor, and hopefully two friends (both of whom loved snacks). She popped one final pink blob between the baby's wet lips and smiled.

An early start was never a bad thing.

* * *

_Aunt Sae_

She kept telling herself that it was washable; that the extraordinarily expensive suit could be cleaned. Although despite the number of trips to the dry cleaners, her niece would still be teething the next day. It wasn't like Sae could just sit the baby down with a pile of toys either.

While Makoto and Ren were away taking care of this and that, the child insisted sitting upon her Aunt's lap, where she had a clear view of a neat and organized desk. And no matter how many times Sae rearranged her young niece, she still somehow managed to reach back, grab a fist full of her coat, and stick the soft, silky fabric into her mouth.

As if it tasted good.

So eventually, Sae had to take it off. Not that she was annoyed, it was just very difficult to present oneself in a dignified manner with drool spots strewn down the front of your jacket.

Once the jacket was gone, the baby then occupied herself with Sae's laptop. She slapped the flat of her tiny palm in the middle of the keyboard, sporting her important document with bouts of gibberish. Naturally, Sae just hit the undo key everytime she did. The incident did not repeat itself, although her niece did try.

"I don't know where you learned these awful habits," Sae said, calmly stopping her niece's hand from slapping the keyboard and ruining a rather important document. "But this is paperwork. It is to be filled out, completed, and turned in by exactly five o'clock in a somewhat decent condition."

Maya babbled in what sounded like delight, and she seemed more interested in the graceful clickity-clack of Sae's fingers on the keyboard than the lecture. She reached out and tried to press the big power button on the machine."You are too curious," Sae said. "Someday it will get you into trouble."

When it did happen, there would be dozens of people willing to jump in and pull Young Amamiya safely out of the situation. Sae would be the first among them; she was positive that her promise to look after Makoto also applied to the well being of her niece too. Besides, Aunts had their own rules to follow when guarding the welfare of young, innocent nieces.

The baby looked up at her, grinned, and babbled freely as if to verbalize her discoveries in an unintelligible dialect. Someday, those basic syllables would evolve into words to express the bright, new ideas of a young mind. For the time being, she settled down, leaning back into a subtle but warm embrace. Her foot kicked the side of the desk.

_Thunk, thunk, thunk._

Two twinkling silver eyes slowly drooped.

_Thunk, thunk…thunk…_

Sae felt her niece's tiny chest heave a sudden, weary sigh.

_Thunk…_

When at last she was asleep, Sae look her over to the couch and laid her gently on it, draping her coat over her to make a makeshift blanket. Maybe now she could finish the paperwork.

* * *

_Uncle Yusuke_

He did it partially out of curiosity and partially out of boredom, but mostly because he didn't know what to do with a baby in the first place. In Yusuke's mind, leaving her eight month old daughter in his care wasn't Makoto's best idea. For crying out loud, he knew nothing about burping, giggling, little babies. Hell, there were eight hundred page manuals on how to properly care for babies. At the least the girl was in a good mood, although she didn't seem to be much of a weeper anyways.

Propping the baby up on the counter, Yusuke rummaged through one of the draws in search of a drawing utensil. What was it called again? Oh, right _eye_liner. Women wore it all the time around the rims of their eyes, but Yusuke had a more entertaining idea.

He finally found a black pencil with a chalky round tip. Perfect. "Hold still" he said, clamping a giant over a mop of brown hair. The baby didn't have eyebrows yet so Yusuke drew two abnormally long and angular lines above her little silver eyes; which made her look strangely aggressive.

She squirmed and grunted in protest. "Please keep your diaper on" Once Yusuke was finished with the eyebrows he began adding other jagged lines, tracing the black pencil across the tiny fleshy space on her forehead and along the border of her hair line.

After that, Yusuke took a step back to admire his handy work. The fake tattoos were crooked and uneven, and Yusuke decided that looked sort of like toothy black thunderbolts. The baby patted her head, grunting and growling as the tickling sensation on her forehead slowly faded.

"Far from my best work" Yusuke said as he gazed upon his handiwork "I was going for Ancient Japanese God, but instead it looks like a member of tribe, oh well"

"Yusuke, what are you doing?"

Yusuke whirled around to find Makoto standing in the bathroom doorway, a bag of groceries under her arm.

"Makoto, what took you so long?" Yusuke blinked.

Makoto shrugged. She was about to answer when she noticed the black lightning tattoos dancing across her daughter's face; the grocery bag quickly joined the floorboards. Yusuke shrugged, twirling the black pencil between his fingers. "Don't have heart attack. It's just war paint."

"War paint!" Makoto shrieked, snatching her daughter away. "You put make up on my baby's face!" Fuming, she shoved past him to the bathtub, twisted the silver knobs, and let out a flood of hot water

"I don't understand, what's the problem?" Yusuke scratched his head. "It's not as if I tattoo'ed her face. Quite frankly, I think the Little Tribal warrior looks is rather striking."

"It looks like she has some exotic face eating disease, Yusuke!" Makoto glared at him

Yusuke groaned. He was an uncle, and uncles like him were supposed to have special privileges for this kind of stuff. The baby screeched as Makoto scrubbed her forehead with a wet wash cloth, but the black stuff wouldn't come off. At last, she gave up. "Yusuke, which pencil did you use?"

Yusuke gave it to her and in return received and an even deadlier glare. "Yusuke," she said lowly. "This is waterproof."

"And?"

"You used waterproof eye-liner to put fake tattoos on my daughter. If Ren sees this, he'll kill you." Makoto glared

The threat hung in the air like a nasty smell. Damn it, she was right. Ren and his egotistical, fatherly pride.

Yusuke tossed her a bar of thick yellow soap. "It comes off with soap, right?"

* * *

_Uncle(?) Morgana_

Babies were selfish, evil little people. They constantly wailed and demanded attention, and there was certainly nothing cute nor innocent about Ren's fat little blob that plopped out of Makoto. Of course Morgana was angry, the brat had him trapped in the death-grip of two chubby little arms!

The air was being squeezed out of his lungs, and those perfectly spherical blue eyes were bulging and ready to pop out of his skull. The baby's mother seemed occupied in an important conversation on the phone, which left Morgana with only one option: save himself at all costs!

Morgana pried, she pulled, she cursed; the baby just wouldn't let go. It was a long, noisy battle that involved a great deal of wailing, cursing, and painful howls. Had someone walked by they would have laughed at the sight of a victimized house cat with a screaming infant.

"Bad…baby! No!"

Finally, Morgana managed to free himself and hopped away, gasping and bristling with annoyance. Maya sobbed, reaching after him.

Morgana looked directly into those wet grey eyes. "Let's get one thing straight, kid," he said harshly. "I am not a house cat. I am the Great Morgnana! I'm to be respected in the highest esteem at all times. Do you understand?"

The baby sniffed back a glob of snot. Her chin trembled. She glanced at Morgana as he stalked away with a throbbing, bent up tail. Then she hung her head and cried some more.

Something inside of Morgana softened at the baby's sobs. Maybe it was because the baby hadn't hurt him _too _bad, or perhaps it was because of some instinct that lay dormant within him, he _was _born from the will of the masses after all.

Little Maya had much to learn.

Morgana sighed, rolled his eyes, and walked back into the babies embrace. To think that he had affection for such a selfish, loving, and somewhat cute little monster.

* * *

_Aunt Ann_

"No!"

Makoto frowned, holding a handful of juicy watermelon squares. The cold, sweet liquid drizzled between her fingers. "You don't want it?"

The baby crossed her arms, chin turning into her shoulder. Her foot thumped against the highchair. "No!"

"But you like watermelon," said Makoto.

She turned her little nose into the air. "No!"

Makoto sighed. A few days ago, Maya had learned how to say no. She could also say_ Mom_, _Dad_, _snacks_, and Haru seemed bent teaching her _Persona_. However, of all the words to learn, _no_ was the most irritating.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

"Honestly, what's gotten into you? You're being so difficult today."

"No!"

Makoto dumped the watermelon onto the tray anyways. "Stubborn, just like your father," she muttered. "Always arguing with me. You would think that we weren't related." She really did love Maya with all her heart and soul, but sometimes she went into this stubborn mood and it drove her bonkers.

Scowling, the baby picked up a watermelon square and squished it in her hand, coating the tray, flooding it with pink juice, and threw it across the kitchen. "No!"

Makoto's hands went to her hips. "Hey!"

That day, Maya was feeling incredibly brave. She thrust a wet finger at Makoto. "No!"

Irritated, Makoto swatted her hand away. "Do you want a time-out?" she asked dangerously.

She pounded on the tray and screamed, "No!"

Then, just when Makoto was going to call the baby by her full name, someone knocked on the door. Makoto shot the baby a warning glare. "No messes," she said, going to the door. "Or I'll take away your toys!"

"No!"

There, at the door, was Ann. She looked concerned. "Makoto," she said. "Is everything alright? I heard yelling."

The whole house shook with a half scream, half wild laugh. The splattering sound of mashed watermelon could be heard sloshing against the kitchen floor. "Noooo!"

Makoto sighed, closing her eyes."Yes, everything's normal."

Another scream.

Ann peered around Makoto. "Is that Maya-chan?" she asked, smiling slightly, as if the screaming was cute.

"Unfortunately."

"You know, you could always bring her out when we go shopping sometimes." Ann suggested

_"Yeah"_ Makoto wanted to say "_And I'd be chasing her around the stores while everyone and laughed and said she was cute" _

That was the problem with her baby. They all thought she was adorable, heaven sent. Whether she was screaming or giggling, it really didn't matter, which made it difficult to discipline her when she needed it the most.

"Not when she's being bad."

_Crash!_

Both women exchanged glances before rushing into the kitchen. There they discovered the baby was still in her high chair, but the food tray was lying on the lying front-down on the floor. Leaning over the side, the baby looked up at her mother, then at Ann, and then back at the tray

She reached up and rubbed her nose. "Oops."

"Oops?" Makoto repeated. "Did Haru teach you that too?"

Ann looked delighted. "She can talk now? Oh, you're getting so big, Maya-chan."

"No!" The baby rubbed her nose again. She scrunched her face into an odd, disgruntled expression and snorted, still rubbing her nose.

"What's with that face?" Makoto asked. "Did you stick something up your nose? Please tell me you didn't put something up there again." Several weeks ago, Maya had decided that her finger just wasn't good enough and stuffed a large chunk of cucumber up her left nostril. In a panic, Makoto had rushed her to the Takemi clinic, where it took all of Tae's gentle skill to get it out.

"No!"

"You did put something up there!" She could tell by the way she kept snorting and scrunching up her face. "Maya-chan!"

"Wait" said Ann. She reached inside of her jacket and took out a small white hankie. "If it's just a little watermelon, it's easy to get out." Then she pinched one nostril and held the hankie over the baby's nose. "Okay, just blow."

She tried to wiggle out of her grasp.

"Go on, blow, Maya-chan."

Makoto folded her arms. She stomped her foot. "Maya Amamiya-Niijima!"

Then, with one hard blow, Maya exhaled. At first nothing happened; her face just turned red. Then there was a weird snorting and finally, she could breath through her left nostril again. "See?" said Ann, holding out the hankie. "It was just a seed."

And sure enough, there, among a glob of clear slime was a sliver of black entangled in a pinkish sinew, like a crusty old booger.

"How did you know that it was a seed?" Makoto asked, relieved that they wouldn't have to endure another screaming match at the clinic.

Ann smirked. She glanced over her shoulder, as if to make sure that no one was listening, before saying in a low whisper, "Don't tell anyone, but when Ryuji and I were in middle school, he was in a similar situation. This was how the teacher dealt with it."

Makoto blinked. "How'd that happen?"

"Well..."

Somewhere in Shibuya, Ryuji dropped his phone as a fit of sudden, unexplained sneezes overcame him


	26. Meet the Parents

_I'm a fan of certain head-canon/crack theory concerning Ren's parents, so I've included it in this fic. You won't have to look too hard to figure it out_

* * *

"Relax. Breathe in, breathe out." Ren instructed as Makoto blew into the paper bag

"I'm fine. Just give me a minute." Makoto sighed as she moved the bag away.

"It's been ten minutes since you told me to give you a minute." Ren grumbled as the two walked down the street "We can't leave them waiting for hours. Especially since we're right outside the house"

"Ok...ok" Makoto gulped as the two walked up the doorway "I'm fine...we can go in now now."

Ren raised slowly raised his hand to the doorknob.

"Wait!" exclaimed Makoto. "I'm not ready!"

"Makoto!" Ren groaned, it's rare he got angry with his girlfriend but she was really testing his patience today.

"But...what if they don't like me?" Makoto whined "But if they don't want you to be with a city girl? What if they have someone they want you to be with?! What if they want you to set you up with a neighbors daughter?"

Ren smiled kindly to his girlfriend. He couldn't help but find it so cute that she was nervous to meet his parents. It had been already one year since they started going out. At first, his parents were reluctant to let their young son to have a long distance relationship with a girl from another city, but Ren refused to let her go and would always call her every single day, and he would never say anything other than positive things about her to anyone who would listen. Ren's parents curiosity was peaked and on his most recent trip back to Shibuya, he brought Makoto back with him as they wanted to meet her.

"Don't worry. They'll like you. Who couldn't?" Ren smiled, still unsure. "Don't worry my Queen."

He kissed her sweetly and took her hand in his. She finally smiled a real smile.

"You ready?" He asked. The young girl took a long breath.

"Yes." She nodded, Ren turned the doorknob.

"Mom? Dad? We're here." Ren called out to empty hallway. Makoto looked around at the room, eyeing the photos on the walls. Many of which were of Ren as a child, which she found incredibly adorable. As she was eyeing them, they were approached by a woman in her mid-forties. She had short black hair styled in a pixie cut, and shiny silver eyes hidden behind a thin pair of glasses. Makoto was agape. her legs were long and she was close, if not, taller than 6 feet. She was wearing an all-black ensemble that hugged her figure tightly, almost skin-tight in fact. Yet despite that, the resemblance was uncanny. She was, without a doubt, Ren's mother.

"Oh Darling, you're back!" the older woman said. Makoto was quite taken aback, there was a regal quality to the way this woman spoke, she sounded like she came from a high-end way of life, almost royal in fact "And hello to you. You must be Makoto-chan."

"Good evening, Amamiya-san." Said Makoto as she timidly bowed. "I'm Makoto Niijima"

Both Ren and his Mother tried not to laugh at her overly politeness.

"None of that now" She laughed with a wave "Please call me Atsuko."

"Atsuko-san, thank you for your kindness." said Makoto, blushing. That made her laugh even more. "A-And thank you for meeting me today"

"Well thank you Makoto-chan, you're really sweet." Atsuko smiled

Meanwhile, Ren was looking at his girlfriend surprised. She was so nervous. Where was that cold confidence from the student council president? Ren knew she was anxious but that was really unexpected. He sighed quietly then realized something.

"Where is dad?"Ren sighed. His mother groaned, good sign...

"Take Makoto-chan in the dining room. I'll bring the food and him." With that said, Atsuko went upstairs. Ren pulled Makoto to the dining room. He sat down next to her and rubbed her back.

"Makoto, calm down! My mom already loves you." He tried to soothe her

"Yeah but what about your father?" Makoto gulped as she looked at him with a pleading look

"Don't worry" He said to her, smiling "If he isn't convinced by you at the start, I'll make sure he is by the time we leave."

Makoto smiled and bent to kiss her boyfriend but heard a crash coming from upstairs.

"TOSHIYUKI AMAMIYA! IF YOU COULD BE BOTHERED TO MOVE YOUR ARSE TO GO SEE YOUR SON AND HIS GIRLFRIEND THAT'D WE SWELL!"

Makoto shivered while Ren rolled her eyes. After few minutes, Ren's mother walked back in with a smile on her face

"He'll be a few minutes darling" She grinned as she took her leave once more. A few minutes later, she returned, Ren's father in tow.

Makoto was surprised, this was not how she expected Ren's father to look at all. He had shaggy shoulder-length grey hair, parted in the middle with the bangs hanging down. His chin adorned with quite a bit of stubble, he hadn't shaved for quite sometime. He wore an ordinary black T-shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. For his legs, he wears a pair of black leather pants and brown boots

"There we are" Atsuko smiles as se begins to lay out the food "Makoto-chan, here is my husband, Toshiyuki Amamiya."

"Nice to meet you sir." Makoto said politely with a slight bow in her chair.

"Hey, no need to be so formal!" Toshiyuki laughed as he sat down. Makoto was taken aback, he was the polar opposite of his wife, he was incredibly laid back and breezy "So, I heard you were a University Student"

"That's correct" Makoto nodded

"What are you studying?" Toshiyuki asks and Makoto gulps

"I want to join the Police Force" Makoto tells him "I want to become Commissioner, to fight all the evil and corruption out there"

"So the head of police? How noble" Atsuko sweetly said.

"Yes. It's my biggest dream." She said, smiling softly. "My father was a police officer and I want to follow in his footsteps"

"Yeah, Ren mentioned he wasn't around any-"

"Dad!" Ren seethed at his father, Makoto's eyes dropped to the table

"Sorry, could've...worded that better. Forget I said that" Toshiyuki tried to wave it off "So what'd you wanna do after that?"

"H-Huh?" Makoto questioned

"Life doesn't end with a job" Toshiyuki stated as he took a swig of his drink as Atsuko rolled her eyes "Believe me, you're gonna plan something out, you should plan everything out"

"O-Oh" Makoto gulped as Ren cringed at his Fathers words "T-Then I guess I'll marry Ren"

Makoto's answer was presented without any doubts while everyone at the table almost choked.

"W-What?!" Ren stuttered.

"Not now!" she exclaimed after seeing the face of her boyfriend. "I only say that if I became Police chief, I'll be secure financially then I will be able to marry Ren-kun… It's all part of the dream…"

"Makoto…" Ren said, moved, as she took his hand in hers.

"That is so cute!" said Atsuko, almost with tears at the corner of her eyes.

"Mom, you're getting emotional again." Said Ren.

"Oh how can I not be!" Atsuko sang happily "My little boy's found the perfect girl!"

Everyone gulped as they looked at her, they could tell she was already imagining their wedding and her grandchildren

* * *

"I'll go search the dessert." Atsuko stated. "Makoto-chan, would you help me?"

His Mother and girlfriend disappeared in the kitchen, leaving him alone with his Father

"She's nice" Toshiyuki hummed out of nowhere "Nice girl..."

"Just _nice_?" Ren pushed on, much to his fathers chagrin

"Well you're clearly nuts for her, and she's nuts for you" Toshiyuki shrugged "Do you really need anything else?"

"I want you to like her" Ren sighed "She's important to me"

...

"Alright kiddo" Toshiyuki leaned. "You know, I want you to respect women."

"I respect her." Ren nodded

"If you're really crazy about her, you have to give her everything she needs." He instructed

"I could give her the entire world if I could." Ren nodded once again

"I want you to love her like you never loved any other woman." Toshiyuki demanded

"She's the only woman I want." Ren affirmed

"Clearly, so did you have sex with her?"

"W-w-what?" Ren choked on every drop of saliva

"Have you had sex with her?" repeated Toshiyuki slowly.

What Ren was supposed to say? _"Yes and she's damn hot in bed!" _No way! He couldn't say the truth.

"Well, you see," Ren started, looking for the good words to say, "I've never done anything she didn't want to do."

"So, yes." Toshiyuki hummed.

"Um…" Ren sweated nervously

"So, just to be clear, I know it's your age to… try things… But, if you ger her pregnant. I can't help you" Toshiyuki told him as Ren gulped. "Let's be real kiddo, you've caused enough trouble as it is"

Those words stung Ren's soul deeply. He wished he would just move passed the damn Shido incident already, his mother had.

"He didn't do anything wrong!"

The words cut the focus in the room, both Ren and Makoto's head darted to the doorway, where stood a furious Makoto

"Easy" Toshiyuki tried to cut him off "I was just-"

"Ren was exploited and framed for something he didn't commit" Makoto angrily marched over to him as Atsuko re-entered the room too "He was proven innocent! The charges were dropped against him!"

"And-

"I can't stand it! People thinking Ren is some kind of violent criminal! Let alone his own Father!" Makoto scolded

"Hey look you" Toshiyuki chided as he stood up "This is my home, and-"

"And it's Ren's home too!" Makoto snapped, Ren was out of his chair and beside her now, trying to calm her down "And you just let him-"

"And I didn't _let _anything!" Toshiyuki snapped "I fought for him too!"

"Don't you dare raise your voice!" Atsuko snapped at her husband as she marched over to him "Besides...she's right"

Makoto's eyes widened at that, before Atsuko turned to look at her

"Makoto-chan, you're right" Atsuko nodded sadly "We didn't nearly do enough, once the lawsuit came in, we had no choice"

"We didn't have the money to fight it" Toshiyuki explained quietly "When he pressed charges...it would've ruined us"

"We didn't have any choice to nod along with Shido's lawyers orders. We ended sacrificing our Son's own life over here" Atsuko whimpered and now Makoto felt horrible "The only thing we could do was send him to Sakura-san"

"I blamed Ren, but the truth is, I knew my boy didn't do anything" Toshiyuki admitted "I only chew him on it so I don't have to admit I was a worthless father who didn't do anything for his only son when he needed me"

Makoto's bottom lip quivered as both parents stared sadly at their feet. She felt awful now, even Ren was looking depressed. She felt like she had ruined this whole evening

"Makoto-chan, you said you wanted to be head of the police, correct? To_ stamp out evil and corruption _yes?" Atsuko appealed as she placed her hands on Makoto's shoulders, Makoto slowly nodded to confirm "Then please...never let my boy go through that again"

"Mom..." Ren breathed

"If you love him, half as much as he loves you, I know he's in good hands" Toshiyuki nodded with a hint of a smile before turning to his son "I'm sorry for what I said Ren...but at least you got a hell of a girl who kick both our asses back on track when we need it"

A few seconds passed before a snicker left Makoto's lips and after that, the group shared a quick laugh

"I'll protect him" Makoto took Atsuko who looked at her happily

"And you look after her, understand?" Atsuko told her son

"Already have been, always will" Ren smiled as he took Makoto's hand

"Alright then, no more moping or yelling, let's just enjoy the rest of dinner" Toshiyuki smirked as he took his seat "Speaking of; dessert?"

"Will chocolate cake do?" Atsuko asked

"Oh, I love chocolate cake!" Makoto piped happily as Atsuko jumped happily

"Oh, I can't wait to call you my daughter-in-law!" She beamed

"E-Eh?!"

"Mom!"

"Atsuko!"

* * *

"So this is it..." Makoto hummed as she observed her surroundings "The infamous room of Ren Amamiya"

It wasn't small per se but it was compared to the LeBlanc attic. A double bed in the top left corner took up around a 1/4 of the room. A series of short bookcases graced the entire right wall, with a TV and a few videogame consoles on top of them, A set of drawers and a closet rested next to the door. The floors were hardwood and the walls were plain white, adorned with a few posters for some American movies she hadn't seen before starring someone named Arnold Schw...Schwa...she couldn't read English that well. A whiteboard sat on the left wall and a small wooden table was next to the bed

"I wouldn't call it infamous" Ren said as he sat down on his bed "Though it is different from LeBlanc"

"Much different, it looks more like my room" Makoto hummed as she sat beside him "So where's your spare room?"

"Spare room?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow "We don't have a spare room"

"Then where am I going to sleep?" Makoto asked much to Ren's amusement

"Here, duh" Ren told her and Makoto's face lit up

"A-Are your parents okay with that...?" Makoto gulped

"Please Makoto, I think they know we are not that innocent." Ren told her as he placed his hand on hers. A sly smile creeped up on Makoto's face

"Well...I suppose as long as we keep it qui-what's that?"

"What's what?" Ren questioned before Makoto pointed to his table, where he spotted a small silver package with a note attached to it

_Use protection! I had a spare - Dad._

...

"Christ..." Ren grumbled as he threw the note in the small trash bin.

Makoto didn't respond. Suppose if she really intend on being with Ren forever, she'd have to get used to her father-in-law's constant meddling, intentional or otherwise. Either way, All _inspiration_ for a night between lovers was cut

...

For about two hours


	27. What Ren Heard

_This one takes place in November, just after the incident with Haru's Dad_

* * *

Ren had just finished walking with Makoto, and he'd walked outside when she had said that she had wanted to rest. Ren had sat right outside her apartment complex on a bench and observed the layout of the place she had been living in for quite some time.

His mind goes over what just happened.

They had walked back from Mementos together, Makoto was exhausted after a grueling battle with a particularly powerful shadow. So he told everyone he'd walk her home. The others had nodded and had turned and left them alone. Ren tried to keep calm, Makoto was the object of his affection for months but he was will still to nervous to ask her out. And given recent circumstances, the timing wasn't really right to do it now or anytime soon really.

"You're okay, right?" Ren had finally asked her. He hadn't wanted to ask that in front of everyone else.

Ren stared down at Makoto, the girl who'd just worked her ass off to save his. He didn't want to rely on her, but he also felt happy that for a change, someone was fighting for him.

"Of course, I just need to rest. That fight carved away at my strength a lot, but it will be easy to fully recover." Makoto had said with a confident grin.

Ren had smiled at her and had felt a wave of relief unlike any other wash over his body. He felt a million times better once he heard it from her own lips. Ren had wondered how long that will take, but he hadn't really wanted to ask her that either. He didn't want her to know that it will depress him if it takes a long time.

"I'm glad. This whole thing with Haru's dad…it has really been a terrible development." Ren had told her as they walked along.

"Yes. We will all have to keep fighting this battle. If we're not careful, we could end up losing our lives, and I don't want to think about what will happen if their dastardly plan actually succeeds." Makoto had said in a sad voice.

"I'll keep fighting Makoto. I'll never, ever forgive them for what he did. They orchestrated Kunikazu's death" Ren had trailed off and realized he might have said too much.

"That's one of the reasons I need to get stronger. I'm not exactly happy with the way I am now. In order to be at my strongest in the shortest amount of time, I need to go into Mementos more and more. Though...taking a break sounds really tempting though, I must admit." Makoto said with a dreamy sigh.

Ren realized that they'd reached their destination, and he wasn't happy about that, so he tried to prolong it

"I'll walk you in, just wanna make sure" He said to her, she but was surprised but Makoto led him inside and let him come inside her house.

"So this is where a real Queen sleeps when she's in her own world," Ren had said as he'd looked around.

"I'm not an actual Queen." Makoto had said with pink cheeks.

"I don't know about that. Your story rivals any other princess story I've had the misfortune of reading." Ren had said before he realized he should stop while he was ahead.

"You have to go back now, right?" Makoto had asked softly.

"I know. Are you sure you're okay?" Ren had asked her before he had headed out.

"I'm fine. I'll definitely see you tomorrow. I just want to get some rest now." Makoto had said with a happy smile.

Ren smiled back at her, and now he's outside her house in the hallway, he goes for the elevator and waits for one to arrive, as it does, he walks into it. Just then, the other elevator arrives and he peeks his head out, spotting Sae Niijima pacing towards her door. He quickly jumps back in before she can notice him. Thankfully she hasn't

"Makoto!" Sae's voice suddenly comes clearly through the open door and Ren keeps the elevator doors open as he leans forward. He's afraid if he moves even an inch, he'll be spotted or sensed by Makoto's sister.

"Sis, what's wrong?" Makoto asks, judging by the sound of her voice, she's moved to the doorway to have a conversation with Sae

"Where is he?" Sae asked

"Where's who?" Makoto asked right back

"Ren Amamiya! I saw you two walking in and getting in the elevator!" Sae shouts and Ren's heart shoots into his throat "I can't believe this, you're sneaking boys in here?!"

"S-Sis, that's not what happened!" Makoto snaps back "I was tired so he walked me home to make sure I was okay! He's already gone!"

A few moments of rustling and silence passed by. Ren could only assume Sae was actually searching for him. He stepped out of the elevator and slinked along the wall and got close to their door

"See, told you..." Makoto's voice droned and Ren could hear the elder Niijima let out an exhausted sigh

"I want you to be careful around that boy. He has a record, there's something very dangerous about him." Sae said next, causing Ren to clench his fists.

"You think I need to be careful around Ren after all he put on the line to help me? Truly?" Makoto had said in a stunned voice to her Sister, and Ren had smiled at that. She always had such high faith in him. It was one of the things about her that made her so special in his heart.

"I am serious, Makoto. I don't know what you see in him. I want you to stay on your guard at all times." Sae says, before she leaves the room.

"Ren and I are connected. I have no reason to be careful around him. I trust him more than anyone." Makoto says once her Sister is long gone, making her way to the open door. "Which is why I want to be with him. I want to be where my heart is."

Ren's jaw falls open as Makoto closes the door. As soon as she does, he quickly gets the hell away from the Niijima apartment. He doesn't want to get caught hanging around.

As he sits on the bench, his heart clenches, he's had a crush on Makoto for the longest time now, but has been too nervous to act on it, the revelation that she feels something for him too causes his stomach to have butterflies.

Ren ends up spending all night walking around just thinking. Every time he has the thought that he should return to LeBlanc, he changes his mind. Not knowing how long it will be until he gets to see Makoto again is enough to make him restless for the entire night. Not to mention, he doesn't really feel at all comfortable closing his eyes to sleep in public.

When dawn approaches, Ren's feet seem to find their way back to the Niijima apartment building, all by themselves. Ren hadn't been consciously thinking of where he was going, but apparently his endless thoughts about Makoto made him subconsciously follow her presence until he's back at her apartment complex.

_PING PING_

_Makoto - Are you outside?_

_Ren - Huh?_

Ren looks up and locates the small window that should belong to the Niijima apartment, he can spot a figure in it that must be Makoto

_Ren - Ah, yeah_

_Ren - I was just taking a walk_

_Makoto - So early? And over here?_

_Ren - Yeah..._

_Ren - Truth be told, I didn't go home, I've been walking all night_

_Makoto - What? Why?!_

_Makoto - You didn't get any sleep last night, did you?_

_Ren - I had a lot on my mind _

_Makoto - Do you want to come up and talk about it?_

Ren didn't reply. He just let out a heavy sigh and made his way inside, grabbing the elevator and arriving before the Niijima's apartment, he goes to text Makoto again but she opens the door, she must've seen him walk inside and was waiting by the peephole. She's wearing her casual long shirt/dress...thing, along with a pair of black leggings

"Yo." Ren calls, feeling a bit embarrassed that she caught him hanging around her house.

"Come in" Makoto instructs as she holds the door open wide "Want to eat breakfast with me?" She asks him and Ren grins.

"Sure." Ren heads through the door, as he walks in, he notes the morning sun and that in its glow, she looks even more beautiful than she did last night.

"Sis already left, so it will be just you and I for breakfast." Makoto tells him softly. Ren's heart races a bit at that information, but he manages to only give her a small smile despite being happy he'll be eating breakfast with her, alone.

"Well, I've made you Curry plenty of times at LeBlanc. It will be nice to have you making the food for a change" Ren says he settles himself at the table. She's bringing breakfast out and Ren's surprised at the size of the portions prepared. He also realizes he's terribly hungry.

"I know, I made it for Sis, but she left without eating." Makoto sighs as she places two plates down and Ren feels a bit sorry for her

"It looks great!" Ren says with huge eyes as he stares at all of his options on the table. Makoto covers her mouth to hide a giggle at his breakfast etiquette. "This is amazing! Wow!"

If her sister were here right now, she would be so appalled at Ren's constant display of his thoughts and emotions. Makoto doesn't mind Ren's behavior though, in fact she's always disliked the stuffiness of sharing her meals with Sae. Those meals can be downright boring. She's never had a casual meal with her sister.

Nothing at all is ever boring around Ren though. Even watching him eye the best breakfast he's probably ever been served is quite an enjoyable experience.

Ren finally starts to choose some items for his plate and Makoto follows his suit. She is surprised when he seems to pick out the same types of breakfast foods that she typically prefers to eat.

Makoto finds herself hoping that her future includes a lot more shared breakfasts with Ren, and she blushes a little bit at that thought. Not like she'd say that out loud.

"You like the same things I do." Makoto finally tells him with a smile, in between bites. Ren glances at her plate and realizes it's true. Their plates look nearly identical in terms of the breakfast foods that they had chosen.

"You're right. I didn't even realize." Ren mutters at her with a small smile gracing his face.

"I'm glad you're here to share it with me." Makoto tells him softly. Ren meets her eyes, and he can see the great happiness that is shining in them, and he nods his head with his cheeks pink, and he digs back into his food.

Breakfast seems to end way too fast for both of them.

"Want to walk with me?" Ren asks her when they stand from breakfast. Makoto smiles and nods at him.

The two depart and walk around town chatting, it's clear to Makoto that Ren has no real destination in mind so she's wondering what this is about

"Why are we walking around town?" Makoto asks quietly.

"To talk, of course," Ren says lightly. "I need to talk to you"

"Okay?" Makoto nods, slightly confused

"Makoto...last night, I didn't exactly..._leave _when you thought I did" Ren tells her and Makoto can't quite catch his meaning

"What do you mean? I know you walked around all night" Makoto told him as Ren stared at her

Makoto was the kind of girl who would want to be powerful so that she could stand by him and not be weak to simply rely on him. With her powers back they could rely on each other, as she had proven on more than one occasion after she'd awakened her Persona.

She wasn't weak, so he wouldn't be either

"I heard you last night..." Ren just bites the bullet and tells her

"Heard wha-..." Makoto begins to ask before she completely freezes "Oh..."

The silence between the two is deafining, both avert their eyes from the other as the only noise coming from them is their breathing

"Look..." Makoto mutters as she looks down as her feet "if you don't feel the same way, that's fine, I just-"

"You like me, right?" Ren immediately cuts her off, not realizing how nervous he is about her answer. Makoto looks at him and slowly nods

"Of course I do, how can you even ask me that? You heard me." Makoto says honestly and Ren nods back at her

"So our future is really the question now." Ren says as he scratches his head "I hope you don't believe that I'm the kind of guy that likes to string girls along, I was never interested in dating lots of girls, I'm the kind of guy that once he falls in love, it's for keeps. I only wanna be with one person"

"I know...I understand" Makoto nods sadly, her breathing is heavy "It's fine...I'm fine. You owe me nothing, I'm your friend...just a friend, and that's...that's fine"

Ren scoffs in frustration, Makoto thinks he's rejecting her. She still didn't get it. Might as well just tell her outright...

"You're more than a friend, you mean everything to me." He tells her bluntly. Makoto looks at him in shock "I only want to be with you, Makoto. I love you."

Makoto doesn't reply, instead, he can only hear her struggling to keep her breathing calm.

"You love me?" Makoto asks him next, her voice showing her disbelief

"Been in love with you for a long time now, since...maybe about an hour after I met you" Ren admitted and he can feel his heart skip a beat at the way she looks at him. Then she smiles at him

Makoto's smile made Ren's heart jump, and he feels pretty ridiculous, because he was not the kind of guy who had ever had a jumpy heart before. He never thought this is how his confession would go, but he's still new at this whole love thing, and he's even more inexperienced at talking about love or his own feelings. The woman he's been pining away for hasn't answered him yet either which is enough to make him grit his teeth as he waits impatiently for her response.

"I love you" She laughs happily though a few tears. Ren loves her answer "All this time, I've loved you too. Right from the start"

"I've never been happier than I am at this very moment right now" Ren tells her as he moves closer to her "And the funny thing is, I know this won't be the last time I'm saying this to you."

"Can you kiss me?" Makoto asks out of the blue, shocking Ren quite a bit "I've wanted to kiss you for a long time"

Without a moments hesitation, he presses her lips to hers. She'd felt a fire lit in that spot and she had been unable to do anything other than enjoy it. He grabbed her head and kissed her with all the emotion pent up in his body. All the emotion he'd always kept so carefully hidden from the rest of the world. She had returned this kiss with equal fervor and it was the most wonderful sensation she'd ever felt in her life up to this point. His hands never went below her waist, and even so, her whole entire body had exploded with new emotions she had not known she had. When he finally pulls away to catch his breath, she smiles as her brilliant crimson eyes shine up at him.

"If I can be with you for the rest of my life, then I am happy." Ren whispers with a blush. She blushes back but smiles at him.

"I've decided, you're mine now" Makoto giggles as she wraps her arm around him and places her head on his chest "My Joker..."

"My Queen..." Joker whispers into her ear as he holds her tight, both basking in the morning sunlight for a while before deciding to head to LeBlanc.

Ren is exhausted, understandably so. As he clambers into bed, Makoto climbs in alongside him and once again holds him tightly, placing his head in her bosom and gently stroking his hair as he falls asleep.

"This is perfect" She whispered as she placed a kiss on his head


	28. Wedding Day

_EDIT - December 19, slightly extended this chapter_

* * *

Ren glances around nervously at the huge gathering that has arrived for his and Makoto's wedding. Sojiro was given permission to sit up front with Ren's parents, and Ren is waiting nervously for his bride to appear. With no male relatives, Sae was allowed to walk her sister down the aisle to give her away for the ceremony.

When he had presented Makoto her engagement ring on Christmas Eve, she hadn't really been surprised, but she had been happy, and Ren had smiled at her. He remembers how he tugged off her glove to put on the ring, and how he felt much better after she was wearing it.

That act had made everything official. Makoto has seemed elated that she'll finally be joining the Amamiya family, and she has willingly agreed to be a Amamiya, rather than asking him to take her name.

Ren hasn't seen Makoto since the day before, and he's anxious to see her in the wedding gown that Yusuke had designed. Yusuke had bragged to Ren that it was his masterpiece. Makoto ended up choosing violet for the dresses of her bridesmaids, and the flowers around the room are violet as well.

Finally, it's time to start. Ren feels his heart thump as the ceremony starts to take place. It seems like forever as their endless wedding party starts down the aisle first. Ren grins at Ryuji with Ann. They actually look pretty good together. Ren also notices that Yusuke seems overly happy as he escorts Futaba down the aisle.

Yusuke and Futaba have been getting along surprisingly well, and Makoto is considering throwing her bouquet at the girl so that those two can be next in line for marriage. She had told Ren that fact with a little grin. Mishima and Eiko come down next. Mishima hadn't really been attracted to Eiko, but they seem to get along fine. Next is Haru and Shinya Oda. Haru looks expectedly beautiful all done up with her dress and hair. She keeps giving Shinya a sideways glare to keep him in line. Hifumi and Kaoru Iwai come last, and they too seem to have become friends over the course of the past several months.

The march of the bride starts, and everybody stands as Sae enters the room holding Makoto's arm. Ren can feel his heart smashing against his chest as he stares at his amazingly beautiful bride. Her dress is every bit as beautiful as Yusuke had proclaimed it to be, and with it on Makoto, it's effect was magnified tenfold. Her dress has a short train, but the design, fabrics, and accessories look breathtakingly beautiful and perfect.

Her dress doesn't have any straps, and it doesn't flare out too much at the bottom, it ends up giving her the look of being taller since it doesn't flare as much as he had imagined it probably would.

He cannot wait to get her to Hawaii for their honeymoon. When she finally gets to his side, Sae presents her to Ren before stepping back. Ren gives Makoto a look of earth shattering love before they turn their attention to the man performing the ceremony.

Ren takes Makoto's hands, into his own, and stares into her eyes as the ceremony begins. She can tell he likes her wedding dress, because his eyes give away his appreciation.

She eyes him up and down throughout the entire ceremony, and is caught off guard, when asked to recite her vows. Makoto gets really nervous, but she looks up at him, and smiles into his eyes.

"I swear to always love and cherish you. I will stick with you through thick and thin, through sickness and health. I'll always be there to help you, in life's pursuit of happiness, and I'll love you until I cease to exist. I also promise to kick you when you're being an idiot, since you need that sometimes." Makoto says, earning laughs and guffaws from their guests. Ren's eyes widen at that, but he's hardly surprised.

"Makoto, no woman means to me, what you mean to me. I swear to keep on loving you, protecting you, cherishing you, and respecting you. I will do everything in my power, to keep you happy, and I'm appreciative that you'll kick me into shape when I need it. I'll stick with you through everything, and I refuse to allow death to separate us. I will spend every moment of my life, loving you, no matter what." Ren says, and though some people are laughing that the couple actually spoke of Makoto kicking his butt into gear, most of the guests are starting to get teary eyed from listening to their vows.

Ren and Makoto can barely take their eyes off of each other, as they slip on their wedding bands, and are officially pronounced married.

"You may kiss the bride."

Finally they're told that and everyone leans forward. Ren kisses her soft lips and she holds on tight for their first kiss as a married couple. Ren and Makoto finally break away from one another and a thunderous cheer breaks out in the room.

"Congratulations, Amamiya-san." Ren says in a low voice to her, wanting to acknowledge her taking his last name immediately following the ceremony.

"Thank you, Ren." Makoto tells him with a smile. It had made her heart jump in happiness that he called her Amamiya-san. It was definitely something she can get used to other people calling her, but she has always liked the way Ren says her name. They start to walk slowly towards the exit. "Come on, Ren. We have to take some pictures and head to the reception hall." Makoto tells him, and they walk a little bit quicker. They're congratulated by everybody they pass by, and everybody seems very happy that the pair have finally tied the knot.

Nobody is happier than Ren and Makoto are though. They both give each other intensely loving gazes.

**_At the Reception…_**

Ren and Makoto have a splendid time, and they even toast their marriage with sake. Ren and Makoto stay side by side, and accept everyone's warm wishes for their future.

When it's time for Ryuji to give the best man speech, Ren worries since Ryuji isn't much of a speech giver. Makoto's eyes look bright and happy though as Ryuji takes a microphone so that everybody at the reception can hear him.

"Never in my life have I met two people more suited for each other. I can't think of a woman better suited to my best friend. Ever since I first saw them together, I noticed what a great couple they made. They have always cared more about each other than they have themselves. They're both spirited and they're both survivors, and I am confident that they have made the right decision. The love that they share is a shining example of what love should be. I wish nothing but the best of luck to both of you, congratulations." Ryuji says before raising his drink.

This is the first time Ryuji has ever had an alcoholic beverage. Every other time in his life he had no trouble turning down sake, but he couldn't do that for his best friend's wedding, this was the exception to the rule. Everyone raises their cups after his speech and Makoto smiles brightly at him. Ren grins in a satisfied way as well.

Everyone is served an expensive meal, though the time spent eating seems to fly by quickly. Makoto had been very careful not to get anything on her wedding dress, which she is still wearing. When dinner is wrapping up, Ren and Makoto stare at each other lovingly.

Futaba jumps up.

"It's time for the bride and groom to share the first dance!" Futaba yells loudly, and everybody cheers. Ren flames up. This had been the worst part of the past few months, learning to dance so that he wouldn't step on Makoto's feet or make an ass of him and her at their reception.

Ren stands and offers his hand to Makoto who takes it and stands gracefully. He leads her out onto the floor and a waltz begins to play. Ren and Makoto take up their dancing positions and stare into each other's eyes as they dance. The song ends quicker than anticipated. Makoto ends up dancing with her Sister and Ren's Father before she is returned to Ren for another dance.

Ren was dancing with a young relative of his while Makoto danced with his father and Sae. She had given him a partial glare throughout their dance, and she had been kind of embarrassed, but Ren's uncle had given her a look that meant she had to dance with Ren.

When Makoto throws her bouquet, she takes note of where Futaba is standing before she throws. Makoto's aim is perfect and Futaba blushes as she winds up being the one who catches the bouquet.

When they cut their wedding cake, Makoto and Ren go to feed each other, and Ren is kind, since he doesn't want to ruin Yusuke's masterpiece, but Makoto isn't so kind. She smashes the cake in his face as she had heard tradition dictates she do. Ren ended up with cake all over his face, and everybody laughed, which made a loud echoing noise throughout the reception hall. Ren had glared at her as he'd wiped his face clean and his face had shown his thoughts perfectly.

_I'll get you back for that._

The rest of the night goes smoothly, and both Ren and Makoto decide they have to find Sojiro before they leave to celebrate their wedding night. They finally locate him in a cozy corner enjoying a drink. Makoto taps him on the arm and Sojiro looks up and gives them a happy smile.

"Congratulations you two!" Sojiro sings out.

"It's thanks to you that everything happened the way that it did, and we both just really wanted to thank you." Makoto tells him softly. Sojiro can't miss the clear happiness in her eyes, even though he's confused.

"How did I help?." Sojiro asks them. Makoto and Ren smile.

"You took me in when no one else would, if you didn't I never would've had to come to Tokyo, and I would've never met Makoto" Ren smiles at him "We owe you one."

"No need to think of it like that." Sojiro says with a wave of his hand. "All I did was see a kid that needed help"

"And you did, I have everything I have now" Ren tearfully says, throwing himself into a bow "Thank you!"

Sojiro is taken aback by Ren's words, he feels his own eyes getting misty. He stands up and wraps the boy in a hug, softly patting him of the back. A couple of sniffles and a few seconds later, the two of them break apart

"Dumb kid, I said not to think of it like that" Sojiro laughs, earning a chuckle from Ren

"Come on Ren, it's time to leave." Makoto says to him, giving him a look of anticipation.

They locate his family and her sister and they inform them that they're ready to leave. Ren's father gets a big goofy smile on his face.

"Now that's what I'm talking about." Ren's Father, Toshiyuki Amamiya says with a satisfied nod of his head, causing Sae to glare at him.

"Take care of my sister or die." Sae says as he's glaring at Ren's offensive father.

"Oh he'll take care of her alright." Toshiyuki says, not caring about Sae's stick up the butt attitude. Both Makoto and Ren feel a bit shocked at this comment. Their eyes both widen at the embarrassing words.

"Come on," Makoto says softly, yet urgently to Ren.

The couple walk away blushing furiously, but Toshiyuki doesn't stop there.

"You can do it all night long! Save sleeping for the plane!"

"Honestly!" Ren's mother, Atsuko huffs as she elbows her husband in the ribs

"When we get back to Japan, I am going to deck him so hard," Ren promises Makoto as they are no longer able to hear Toshiyuki due to the cheers of their guests.

Ren keeps his arm around Makoto as they walk out to the limousine at the residence. Haru had gotten them the honeymoon suite at the nicest hotel in Tokyo, as a Wedding Gift.

"I wonder what our room will look like," Makoto says, since she's only been in a hotel once, in Hawaii, where they'll be heading back to in a few days

"Who knows." Ren says as he slips his arm around her. Makoto smiles up at him, and Ren takes the opportunity to have their first kiss alone "All that matters is today is the best day of my life"

"It's the best day of my life too," Makoto says honestly as she kisses him back. She sighs and relaxes as the two enter the Limo and drive off. She smiles and leans her head on his shoulder as she closes her eyes

_"Words can't describe how happy I am to be Makoto Amamiya"_


	29. Informing Everyone

"I don't believe we're here to tell Sis that we're beginning a relationship," Makoto says with a completely white face as they walk through Sae's workplace.

"We might as well get her used to the idea as early as possible. She'll get used to the idea of it, though." Ren tells Makoto with a grin. He doesn't tell her the rest of what he's thinking though.

_Even if I have to change her heart_.

"I wish I could be as confident as you are." Makoto tells Ren quietly. She wishes they could hold hands, but she doesn't want her sister to know what's going on before they have a chance to express it verbally for themselves.

"You always worry too much, but you're cute enough that you get away with it." Ren tells her with a sideways grin. Makoto blushes at that.

"Cute?" Makoto asks him with a smile.

"Cute, beautiful, pretty, sexy, dynamite…you're all of them." Ren tells her, still grinning.

"You're obstinate, but sweet." Makoto tells him, still blushing heavily. Ren grins at that. She's always careful not to compliment him too much, so that he doesn't get too big a head.

"If you don't pick up the pace a bit, I'm going to pick you up and run to wherever Sae is at." Ren tells her, since it's obvious that she's dragging her feet. Makoto flushes a bit at that, she'd hoped he wouldn't notice her walking more slowly than usual.

"I'm glad one of us is confident about this." Makoto grumbles at him as she picks up her pace, causing Ren to grin.

He knew there was no way she wanted to arrive there and see the look Sae would give when she saw her sister in his arms, so his threat worked quite well, since they're now moving a much more quicker speed.

"I told you I'd take care of it, so you need to stop your worrying. Nothing is going to stop us from being together. I won't let anybody come in between us." Ren tells her, and Makoto looks up at him with admiration in her eyes.

His face has a very determined, strong, and confident look to it, and he doesn't look the least bit worried. His lips are curved into a slight smile, as though he's looking forward to talking with her sister. When he's like this, it always makes her feel even stronger. His strength always flows into her when she needs it the most.

_You're amazing, Ren. That you're willing to do whatever you have to do in order for us to be together, it means more to me than you even know._

"Ren…we have to turn here." Makoto says, and Ren looks around with a bit of confusion, which doesn't suit him as much as his confident look does. He gives her a sheepish grin.

"I guess I don't really know my way around here." Ren admits with a bit of a grin, as he goes in the direction she indicates.

"We're almost there." Makoto says.

"You sent the message for her to expect us, right? I don't want her to act like she won't see us because it's not in her schedule." Ren tells Makoto, as that thought suddenly pops in his head.

"I did send the message, but even if I hadn't, Sis would still see me if I said I needed to speak to her." Makoto informs Ren, who rolls his eyes at her staunch defense of her sister.

"Good." Ren says, only concentrating on the part of her answer that he had been asking about.

"It's through those doors." Makoto says, as she and Ren approach the gates with a guard posted outside of them. They walk forward and the guard immediately stands up straighter.

"Makoto-san, Sae-san is expecting you." The guard says formally.

"Thank you," Makoto says as she and Ren step forward. The guard steps in front of Ren.

"The only people outside of our division allowed to enter are any of the attorneys, their clients, or their families." The guard tells Ren, who scoffs and pushes the man out of his way

"I'm with Makoto." Ren informs her as he and Makoto walk through the doors. Makoto has a horrified expression on her face at that. She glares at Ren.

"Real subtle." Makoto hisses under her breath so that they aren't overheard. Ren glances at her, and quickens his pace towards the offices.

"He was stupid enough to get in my way." Ren reminds her, as they reach the doors. Ren grabs the doorknob and Makoto has to yank him back by his ear.

"You always knock before entering." Makoto tells him in a hard voice. Ren squirms at the pain she's causing him as she pinches his ear.

"Okay!" Ren sputters, and Makoto releases him. She crosses her arms and watches as he pounds on the door like the police, rather than just lightly knocking on it. She glares at him, and hopes he didn't startle her sister at a bad moment.

The door swings open seconds later.

"Good morning, Sis!" Makoto says, as her sister appears from within her inner office.

"Good morning, Makoto." Sae says as she steps closer. Ren can feel Makoto tensing up next to him

"Sae-san, we came here to talk to you." Ren says, straight out, and Makoto's eyes widen. As much as he's changed since they became a couple…some things always seem to stay the same.

"Very well," Sae says, as she gives them her undivided attention. Makoto feels shock. Has her sister gotten used to Ren's casual attitude?

"We came here to tell you that we want to be together, and since Makoto was concerned that you wouldn't approve, I thought it was best to tell you now rather than later." Ren tells her as he crosses his arms and watches Sae carefully.

Makoto is bright red, but she looks at Sae with pleading eyes. She's looking back and forth between Sae and Ren with a very nervous look on her face as she contemplates the possibility of a fight.

But no, he's right, it's time to be direct

"I love him." Makoto tells Sae, who just gives them an expressionless look for a long moment before she responds. Sae turns her back on them and begins to head back towards her office, before she turns to the side and turns her head to look at them again.

"I saw this coming a long time ago. I'm hardly surprised Makoto. Even though I didn't think he was good enough for you when I first laid eyes on him, he earned the right to be considered good enough for you a long time ago. I don't disapprove." Sae tells them, before turning back towards her office. She turns back one more time with a parting message for Ren. "Hurt her, and you'll be dealing with me." Sae says, before walking inside her office and shutting the door.

"I don't believe it," Makoto breathes with a loud sigh of relief.

"Me either." Ren says, with wide eyes. Of all of the ways he expected the talk to go, that had not been one of the scenarios that he had come up with.

He had imagined having to fight Sae, to win the right to date Makoto, but instead, she just went ahead and accepted the situation as they presented it.

"I seriously don't believe it," Makoto says again, and Ren nods.

"I get the feeling that she was expecting us to get together a long time ago," Ren grumbles, even as he remembers how he spent so long getting up the courage to finally tell Makoto how he feels.

"You're right, she gave me that impression too," Makoto says with agreement.

"And you were all worried," Ren says with a grin. Makoto smiles up at him.

"Not anymore!" Makoto says.

"Come on, we need to head back home before they try to charge me with something. I'm sure they've figured out that I'm around here somewhere already." Ren says as he glances out the window, expecting to see police flying towards them with handcuffs out. He breathes a sigh of relief that no one is there.

"Yeah, now we need to go tell our friends the good news," Makoto says, with a beaming smile.

Ren grins at her and throws his arm around her as they exit the offices.

When they arrive back to Shibuya, Ren is still astounded that they didn't encounter any drama when they went to Sae's legal office to inform her sister that they were in love and going to be together. The whole thing just shocks him.

They hold hands as they head to go and treat themselves to something sweet for all the stress that they had been put under, to go and visit Sae, to tell her how it was going to be.

Ren buys them both ice cream cones. Makoto gets vanilla, and Ren gets chocolate. They sit on a bench together and enjoy their cones, frequently glancing at one another to smile in happiness at what has begun for the both of them.

"Thank you for the cone." Makoto says, before she licks the top of the ice cream cone.

"You're welcome. I'm surprised you picked vanilla, to be honest." Ren tells her as he watches her lick the cone.

"I like the way it tastes…even though it's not nearly as sweet as a kiss from you," Makoto tells him with a blush, causing Ren to lean over and give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"You make me really happy, you know that?" Ren tells her, and Makoto gives him a big smile when he says that.

"That's really good, because you make me incredibly happy." Makoto shares with him, before she licks her cone again.

"Do you want to try mine?" Ren asks as he holds his cone out to her. Makoto grins at him, and turns a bit pink when she nods her head yes. She licks in a spot that he has already licked, and she realizes a chocolate cone is tasty too.

"Mmm, it's good." Makoto tells him with a grin.

They don't talk much more as they work on their cones, but they keep throwing each other smiles and happy looks while they eat.

When they are eating the last of their cones, Ren yanks a couple of napkins out from under his leg and hands one to Makoto. He tosses out the one that was touching the bench though, and he wipe his face and hands with another one.

"So, who should we go tell first?" Ren asks her as he puts his arm around her on the bench.

"Why don't we tell them, all at the same time?" Makoto asks him with as she looks to see what his reaction is to her suggestion. He nods his head slowly and smiles at her.

"That may be the easiest way to do it." Ren tells her with a grin.

Makoto pulls out her phone and makes plans for everyone to meet at LeBlanc. Makoto and Ren take their time walking there, since they're not in any particular hurry.

When they get to LeBlanc, they're surprised that nobody else has shown up yet, even Sojiro isn't here. Ren and Makoto walk in and then take seats next to each other in one of LeBlanc's booths.

Soon there is knocking at the door. Ryuji and Ann walk in, and within moments the rest of their friends are here too and they're in seats, so that the crew is together.

"Is something going on?" Yusuke asks. A spark appears in Ren's eyes, capturing everyone's full attention, except for Makoto, who's slowly turning redder as the moments pass by.

"Don't keep us in suspense, what is it?" Ryuji asks as he peers at Makoto, who has begun to squirm a little bit.

"Makoto and I, are officially a couple." Ren announces, earning a gasp from the girls and wide eyes from the guys.

"I saw this coming." Futaba says, even though she's a bit surprised that they finally got their acts together to become a couple.

"Yeah, me too" Ann chuckles and Ren blushes, was it really that obvious?

Ryuji has known a long time, that they had a thing for one another. He's more surprised than anything that it took them this long to getting around to acknowledge that fact.

"I'm happy for you, I think you make a great couple." Morgana says, as he gives Ren a genuine congratulatory smile.

Suddenly though, everyone is focused on Haru, since her eyes are filling up with tears.

"I'm sorry…I should be happy for the two of you…but…" Haru says as a few tears trickle down her cheeks.

"Haru…what is it?" Makoto asks in concern as she slides out of the booth , in front of her friend.

"I'm so sorry Mako-chan…but…I've loved him for the longest time, and…this hurts." Haru says through her gasps, as she cries. Ren's eyes widen in shock.

"You love me?" Ren asks in a quiet voice. Haru glances up at him with pain filling her eyes.

"More than you'll ever know, Ren-kun. I always hoped that one day you'd finally notice me…I always hoped you'd realize it." Haru admits, in front of everyone. Ryuji and Yusuke look fairly horrified, but Ren and Makoto look mighty shocked with wide eyes. Ren clears his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"I'm in love with Makoto, it's been that way for a long time, and that won't ever change." Ren finally says in a firm voice to Haru. "I'm sorry that you're hurt, but you and I would never work out." Ren finishes up. Makoto gives him a horrified look.

"How serious are you?" Ann asks quietly, and Makoto blushes again, before she gives Haru a look of concern. Ren answers, since Makoto hesitates.

"Serious enough, that we went and told Sae." Ren says without so much as a waver in his voice.

"Really?" Futaba asks with wide eyes. She's surprised that he would go that far, she always imagined him chickening out of telling Sae about his true feelings for Makoto.

"So there's no hope for us?" Haru asks Ren very softly, and he gives her a weird look.

"No." Ren says, and Makoto jumps up and glares at Ren.

"Do you have to be so insensitive? She just said she's loved you for ages!" Makoto says, feeling bad for Haru.

"I'm not trying to be insensitive, but I don't want to give her false hope either. Haru…you should date someone, don't keep waiting around for me." Ren says, even as he notices that Makoto doesn't like the way he's choosing to handle this all so bluntly.

"Ren!" Makoto says, in an appalled voice. Haru stands up and grabs Makoto's arm.

"Mako-chan…it's okay." Haru says, before she looks back at Ren. "Ren-kun…thank you for your honesty." Haru says, and struggles to get a hold of herself.

"Are you okay?" Makoto asks her in concern, Haru looks up at her and smiles through her tears.

"I'm going to be okay. I may not be able to be with Ren-kun, but you always will be. If it can't be me, then I'm glad that it's you. I know you'll love him the way he deserves to be loved, and so I'll be okay." Haru says, quite graciously, feeling bad that she cried when they were obviously so happy about getting together.

"Thank you, Haru." Makoto says, before she leans over and offers Haru a hug. Ren gives them a strange look of confusion, since he really doesn't get why Makoto's being so kind about Haru's feelings towards him. If Ryuji or Yusuke told him out of the blue that they were in love with Makoto, friendship be damned, he'd probably tear them to shreds with his bare hands.

"Thank you, for not being mad at me, Mako-chan." Haru says as she hugs Makoto back.

"We'll always be friends," Makoto assures her as she pulls away and smiles at her. "After all, it's probably those very strong feelings that made you capable of saving Ren whenever he was in danger in Mementos." Makoto says, and Haru nods her head, and wipes the tears from her eyes.

"So, when the two of you get married, you'll definitely invite all of us, right?" Yusuke asks, ready to be done with the emotional drama. Makoto shoots Yusuke a small smile at that comment, and Ren grins hugely.

"Definitely." Ren says, and Makoto takes her seat next to him again.

"God help us all if you two decide to reproduce," Futaba says, as she pushes her glasses up. Ren and Makoto blush at that comment. Ren says nothing, though his cheeks are a bit pink as images of what his and Makoto's kids would look like flash through his head.

"Does anybody else have any news, while we're all here?" Makoto asks as she looks around. Everyone shakes their head no, and Ren grabs Makoto's hand and stands.

"I promised Makoto I'd take her out, so we're going to get going" Ren says, as he pulls Makoto away with him. She shoots the group a quick smile, but lets Ren pull her along.

"What did I tell you, Makoto? Didn't I say it will work?" Ren asks her with a wink.

"See you later!" Makoto says, Haru watches them leave, and feels a heaviness in her heart, from feeling acceptance in her brain.

_Ren-kun deserves to be happy, and now he's with the one who really makes him happy. I guess the better woman won._


	30. Birthday Morning

_Damn, have we really reached Chapter 30? Hell, it's really been 7 months since I started this story? Time flies_

_We're going further than we ever have before, jumping two decades after the events of the game. We're also bringing back my rarely seen 3rd ShuMako kid, Mai_

_This is likely the last chapter until next year, I'm heading to my home country Romania for the holidays. I'm bringing my laptop with me so maybe I'll get another one out before, but don't hold your breath_

_Happy Kwanzaa, I guess_

* * *

She didn't feel the familiar warmth of the presence that always used to be beside her every morning. That was why Makoto sat up in the bed abruptly, rubbing sleep out of her eyes, looking around the room for any signs of her companion, only to see no one.

The police officer glanced at the clock and mentally cringed. 7:35? Late.

_I wonder why Ren didn't wake me up_

But beside the desk clock that signaled her oversleeping, the caught sight of the calendar that told her what date it is that day.

April 23.

She smiled softly.

Maybe this was why the house was so quiet, the kids and Ren had done her a favor of a peaceful, sleepy morning that gave her the privilege to sleep past a mother's required hour.

The woman leisurely made her way downstairs. The house was obviously empty and a bit cold for only one person to stay in, but warmth radiated from every corner. The little picture frames, the occasional medals, the Buchimaru collection, the tiny trinkets here and there reminded her of a different, happy story that made her smile everytime.

_"That little piggy bank has been Hiromu's since he was five, he's never filled it up. The hand-made Buchimaru picture frame was by Mai...I remember her spilling glue on Ren's pants. And that karate tournament medal is Maya's, makes me proud every time."_

She laughed softly to herself as she remembered the little vignettes of her family. Now that it's her birthday and they will all probably be out all day, she felt a little lonely.

_Maybe I could go over Ann's or Haru's, or maybe visit sis."_

She stopped her musings when she reached the dining table.

The table was set for one. A special, mouth-watering meal. It was still hot and it looked awfully delicious. Makoto could totally guess who prepared it.

She gently took the pure white tulip that was laid on her plate, relished it with her own smile, and finally decided to read the note on the sky blue post-it attached to its stem.

_Mom: Sorry I'm not there. Got an early shift for my part-time job today._

_Happy Birthday. - Maya. _

Makoto eyed her favorite dishes and back at the note once again. It looks like her dear 15-year old overdid herself this time. The meal looked extra appetizing.

_"Maya is almost 16 now...God, am I really 39 years old today?"_ She muttered to herself, it felt like yesterday that Maya was that little baby in her arms.

She trudged towards the kitchen, direct to the cupboard where she always got a can of her Buchi-kun morning candies, and was surprised to find the supposed-to-be almost empty cabinet loaded with their usual groceries.

A post-it note, now in pink, was stuck to her candy jar, along with a bright pink tulip.

"My, they really know my favorite flower." She smiled as she sniffed it, she glanced a pink card beside it

_Mommy! Happy Birthday!_

_I woke up extra early to fetch all the groceries!_

_Love you lots - Mai-chan. _

Makoto laughed lightly. Extra early for Mai? That would most likely mean that the girl woke up 5 seconds early and scrambled out of bed, leaving a messed-up, plushie-infested heap in her room. She could totally imagine her youngest child struggling to beat her time record to get to the grocery store, stuffing everything she thinks would fit the budget.

She cringed inwardly at the considerably high population of cheese-flavored potato chips in the cupboard, but she decided that she'll forgive Mai-chan for the meantime.

Makoto smiled while chewing her candy as she laughingly visualized the scene earlier this morning.

Knowing Hiromu and Mai, the two must have been insulting each other while the pre-teen sat on her sister's shoulders, fixing the groceries, while said sister was cooking like the master chef she was.

With another laugh, Makoto checked the fridge for her milk. Before she got to open it, though, another post-it was posted in the fridge-door, peach in color, along with a bright yellow tulip.

_Mom... Uh, I fixed the fridge? I think._

_I also managed to fix your favorite Buchimaru slippers, sorry it went missing for the week._

_And sorry I wasn't able to find the right shade of pink._

_I love you! Happy Birthday. - Hiromu_

By the nearby bathroom door, Makoto noticed her recently-gone-missing special edition pink Buchimaru fluffy slippers. She picked them up and noted the clumsy and oh-so-obvious stitches that were two shades darker than the original color of the slippers. Her fingers strayed over them and finally, she decided to wear them - concluding that they were steady enough. A smile plastered on her face, she collected her flowers, picked up her milk can from the now-neat fridge and made her way back the dining table.

_I wonder what Ren got for me..._

Before she can take her first bite, a noise startled her.

"Mmmfff! FFF! MMMMFFFNNNGGGHHHH!"

Makoto's eyes traveled across the table and towards the wall. At the scene, her grin reached her ears.

"I wonder how in hell I missed this one."

There, in the center of the wall, just beside a family portrait, was Morgana. Mouth taped shut and body seemingly stuck to the wall via a duct tape, the cat struggled and squirmed and tried to speak up properly.

Poked on one side of the cat was a single, blood-red tulip and attached nearby was a white post-it.

_Hey babe, had to go into work early_

_I've decided to shut the little guy up for you._

_Have a nice, quiet, noise-unpolluted morning. Taking the whole family out for dinner later_

_I love you, my Queen - Ren._

_P.S. Maya cleaned the whole place because she's a freak._

_Hiromu started the laundry because he's paranoid._

_Mai watered your flowers because she's a good girl._

_I... uh, I taped Morgana to the ceiling because the kids did everything else. _

"Mmffnghh! MMMMFFFGGHHHH!"

Makoto laughed. "Sorry, Morgana. I don't want to ruin my husband's birthday gift for me."


	31. New Year's Eve

_Back home from Romania and I figure I'd squeeze one last chapter out before the new year_

_Fittingly, a new chapter, about the new year_

* * *

This is Makoto's first time ever attending a new years party. Their friends had decided to splurge so they could all have a proper celebration. Specifically, Ann, and her agency were the ones funding it. They had received invitations to a fancy resort in the countryside, letting her know that she, Sae and Ren were invited, and their children could come along too, and that there would be a nanny so that Makoto and Ren could actually have fun.

Ever since they gave birth to their second daughter a year ago, they've had their hands full, between Maya and Hiromu and now Mai. Makoto hasn't told Ren yet, but they're arriving a full day early. Sae had already made her way to the resort, so they're going to give Sae some quality time with the kids.

"Damn it!" Ren's voice roars, and Makoto sighs. It's because of him that their beautiful children have already learned the fine art of swearing like a trucker. "Look at this mess!"

"What is it, Ren?" Makoto calls downstairs, as she was about to take Mai into the bathroom to bathe her.

"Makoto did you leave the flour out? The kids somehow got into it, don't ask me how, and the entire kitchen, and them are all covered in it!" Ren yells up, and Makoto cringes.

"I don't even want to see what that must look like." Makoto mutters, and she hurries into the bathroom and closes the door.

She swears she hears something after that, but she turns on the water, and blocks the nightmare downstairs, out of her mind. She would never get anything done if she went running every time Ren wanted to yell about something.

Downstairs, Ren looks around the kitchen, at a complete loss as to what he's supposed to clean first. He looks at his identically cute son and daughter, covered in white flour.

"How in the hell did the two of you even manage this?" Ren asks, since he's at a loss for words, on how this could have happened.

His children watch him very carefully. They always seem very entranced, or amused whenever Ren is being loud, like he is being now.

When Makoto gets downstairs, twenty minutes later, Ren hasn't made too much progress on getting the kitchen cleaned up. Makoto's mouth drops open when she sees the mess. At least he got the kids cleaned up first, so that Makoto didn't have to deal with that.

"Why weren't you watching them?!" Makoto wails, as she looks around, at the hopeless mess they have on their hands.

_How in the hell did they get flour, everywhere?_

"I only turned my back for a few seconds! I don't even know how they got the flour off the counter!" Ren mutters, as he wipes off the counter.

"Mama! Mama!" Hiromu starts to chant, so Makoto squats down with Mai.

"I'll finish cleaning, just go and play with the kids, to keep them busy while I finish up in here." Ren says, and Makoto smiles gratefully.

She stands to walk out of the room, and the two immediately follow after her. They always do, unless Ren holds them back. All three of his kids are mama's kids…just like he was a mama's boy when he was a kid. He can't blame them, he loves to be with Makoto as much as they do.

* * *

"Do we have everything?" Makoto asks as she checks the diaper bag again for the third time.

"I'm pretty sure we have everything important." Ren says, as he pulls along two suitcases. One has his and Makoto's things, and the other has everything the kids should need, in addition to the diaper bag that Makoto is carrying.

"Okay, now for the stroller." Makoto says. She pulls out the double seated stroller, and seats Maya and Hiromu in it, and then she puts on the baby carrier, so that she can carry Mai without having to hold him. Ren puts down the suitcases, and arranges Mai in the sack. She can do it herself, when he isn't around, but it's always easier when Ren helps her with the carrier.

"Come on." Ren mutters, and Makoto nods. Ren opens the door, and Makoto pushes the stroller out and they head for the train station.

A few hours later, they reach their destination with no problems.

Their kids are already popular with their friends. Even knucklehead Uncle Ryuji absolutely melts at their cuteness as they enter the building.

"What the hell?" Maya suddenly says, catching Ryuji's attention.

"What the hell is this?" Hiromu suddenly says next, causing the couple to turn bright red. Ryuji starts to laugh so hard that he loses his balance. Yusuke catches him in time before he flies head first into the ground.

"Maya! Hiromu!" Makoto says in horror before she glares at Ren. His eyes are wide.

"They choose now of all times, to start repeating what they've heard today?" Ren groans, and Makoto doesn't look too thrilled.

"Just before we're supposed to see Sis…" Makoto mutters, and Ryuji laughs as Yusuke walks over to the stroller. Hiromu scowls at him and reaches out to swipe at Yusuke's blue hair.

"He scowls, just like you!" Yusuke says with an amused laugh, and Ryuji laughs at his statement.

"They sound like him too." Ryuji says, and Makoto blushes harder.

"I hope they got that out of their system." Ren mutters, and Makoto nods her head. Haru suddenly appears, and she smiles at the family.

"Haru!" Makoto says excitedly. She hasn't seen her in months.

"Long time no see, Mako-chan." Haru says with a grin as she approaches closer. "Do you need any help with anything?"

Mai lets out a shrill scream, right near Makoto's ear, and Makoto jumps at that.

"Want me to take her?" Haru asks, and Ren hands the suitcases to her.

"I'll take my daughter. Don't worry" Ren tells her, and Haru watches with a small envious smile as Ren pulls his daughter off of Makoto's back.

It's scary, how much the father and daughter resemble each other. Haru finds herself wishing she had a small girl to carry around...

The moment Mai is grinning happily from her father's arms. Even Ren's a bit surprised. Typically his daughter prefers to be with Makoto. Ren looks over at his wife, who looks relieved to have her back free of the added weight of their one year old daughter.

"Alright we'll see you all tomorrow at the party. Makoto and I are heading to the house of doom now." Ren says, and Makoto glares at him.

He's never been one to be excited when they are visiting with Sae.

_In Their Room_…

"Where is your sister at anyways?" Ren asks as the servants have already led them to their room, where three cribs are at for their convenience.

"She's is a very busy woman. I'm sure we'll see her shortly." Makoto answers, as she puts all three of her kids into the cribs. "Even when on a vacation..."

"What's beyond that door?" Ren asks, pointing behind the cribs.

"The bathroom." Makoto answers absentmindedly, as she presents Maya and Hiromu a sippy cup filled with juice, and Mai a bottle.

"I can think of a way to pass the time…" Ren says, as all of his kids are no occupied. Makoto glances up, and her eyes widen when she sees the look in her husband's eyes.

"We can't! Not now!" Makoto argues, but Ren just gives her the same sexy smile that convinced her to get into bed with him to conceive the miracles, currently in the room with them now.

"Come on, Makoto..." Ren says, still grinning at her.

"The children!" Makoto exclaims, and Ren begins to hop towards her, making her feel a tingling on the inside.

"They're busy…we can just go into the bathroom." Ren says, and Makoto begins to smile.

"Alright…" Makoto says, and Ren grabs her hand and drags her behind him, into the bathroom.

Makoto can't help but to laugh, the whole way there. When they get inside, Ren begins yanking his clothes off like he's starved for sex. He proceeds to do the same to Makoto, and then ogle her for a minute before kissing her passionately.

"You're as sexy now as you were the first time we made love…" Ren groans in her ear, and Makoto smiles, before she replies.

"You are too, my Joker." Makoto whispers, and Ren kisses her fiercely. He sinks to his knees and looks up at his gorgeous wife with desire.

"I'll make you scream." Ren promises.

"I'm counting on it…" Makoto whispers, before she lets out a long moan of pleasure. He sure has learned the right ways to get her going quickly, he knows her body inside and out.

_Ten Minutes Later…_

"Mama! Mama! Mama!" Maya shouts at the top of her lungs.

"Mama! Mama!" Hiromu joins in.

Their eyes are staring hard at the bathroom door, where they just heard their mother let out a scream. They hear their father let out what sounds like a very loud grunt, and then a moment later, he begins to chuckle loudly. They hurry back out, still pulling their clothes into place.

"Jeez Ren! Were you hoping to get caught by Sis?" Makoto asks with a blush.

"I always keep my promises to my Makoto…isn't that why I'm here right now?" Ren asks, as he looks around the room with a sigh.

"If you didn't come with me, I'd stay here with the kids for a month." Makoto grumbles, and Ren snaps his gaze at her.

"Don't even joke like that. I don't even like being away from you for more than a day." Ren tells her. "Since a day without you already feels long as hell." Ren says, as he remembers being locked away in Juvenile Hall. Just one day had felt like well over a year...and he was in there for months.

Makoto smoothes out her hair, and then she hurries over to pick up Maya. Ren does the same with Hiromu, and it's at the moment that both of them have a child in their arms that Sae busts in the room.

"Makoto! Are you okay?! I heard you scream." Sae says, and Makoto begins to blush.

"Who in the hell are you?" Maya asks, pointing at her Aunt.

"What the fuck?" Hiromu says next, and this causes the married couple to both blush a deep shade of red, while Sae stares at her niece and nephew completely speechless.

Mai picks this moment to pull herself into a standing position in her crib. She looks over at Sae.

"Fuck!" Mai loudly repeats, and Makoto coughs.

"Sis…" Makoto says, and Ren doesn't meet his sister-in-law in the eyes.

_Three for three. All three of them just fucking swore at her._

Sae appears to be trying to stay calm, while Makoto looks terribly nervous.

"I trust that they can all say more than just that?" Sae asks in a suffocating voice.

Makoto's head begins bobbing up and down.

"Oh yes, Sis…I'm sorry about that!" Makoto says, feeling like she could die of embarrassment.

"Fuck you!" Maya says, right at her aunt, and Makoto claps her hand over her daughter's mouth

"I really don't know what's gotten into them! They don't normally do this!" Makoto assures her.

"Sorry, Sae." Ren says, and Mai instantly snaps her head back to her aunt, after watching her father.

"Sowwy Sae." Mai repeats, childishly.

Sae steps over to her crib and picks up Mai, who is instantly enthralled with Sae's long hair.

Sae looks at the child, but there is only two features that are Makoto's, and that the colour of her hair and the shape of her eyes. The color though, is just like Ren's, and if she narrows her eyes and scowls, she can probably mimic her father perfectly.

"I forgive you." Sae says, as she looks at the tiny child.

Makoto starts to breathe easy, and she slowly removes her hand from Maya's face.

Makoto sets Maya down, to take Hiromu from Ren, and Maya runs over to grab on her aunt's robe.

"Up!" Maya orders her in a loud voice, and Sae picks up Maya as she ordered him to do.

Sae can feel her insides twisting with emotion, since Maya looks so much like Makoto when she was a baby, but she can also see the resemblance of her own mother in there.

"I wish Mom and Dad could have met you, minus the swearing." Sae tells her niece, and she smiles as she grabs her face with her hands and leans forward to kiss her on the nose.

Sae blinks. She hasn't been kissed on the nose in decades. The last person to kiss her like that was her Father.

Ren and Makoto both exchange a nervous glance with one another as Sae stares at Maya in wonder, and then she looks over at Hiromu, in Makoto's arms.

"You have beautiful children, Makoto." Sae says, before she smiles at her niece.

"Thanks, Sis..." Makoto says, in amazement.

"Want to explore?" Sae asks Maya, and Makoto holds up a hand.

"Sis? She's been getting into an awful lot of mischief lately, I hope she won't be a bother!" Makoto says, and Sae smiles.

"Don't worry about us." Sae says, and she goes around to show off her niece.

_"No matter what you said to them, your Grandparents would have adored you"_

Back in in their room, Ren and Makoto just stare at each other in shock.

"Well, that could have only gone worse if she'd entered the room a minute earlier." Ren informs his wife, who nods her head in agreement. Then she smiles at Ren.

"At least she left me with the one who isn't stinky." Makoto says, as she hugs Hiromu with a smile. Ren rolls his eyes.

"Now that they're practically potty trained, it really won't matter too much longer." Ren says, even though he thinks his wife looks completely adorable, hugging Hiromu like she is. As they get older, they only resemble their mother more and more strongly.

Having a family makes Ren extremely happy, in ways he never even imagined that it could.

* * *

Ren looks at Makoto who is in a beautiful purple and white kimono, which makes her eyes look even redder than usual. The party started a few hours ago, and Ren is noticing how it's slowly getting to be more and more relaxed as the guests get more and more intoxicated.

"I'm happy the two of you are here for this! How are you enjoying being parents?" Sojiro asks, as he comes up from behind them.

"It's tough, but rewarding," Makoto says, and Sojiro laughs.

"I heard what Maya-chan did to Sae-san…I couldn't stop laughing for a few minutes when I heard…that's definitely your daughter!" Sojiro says, and Makoto's eyes widen. Ren tries to suppress a chuckle

"You told him?!" Makoto seethes at her husband

"It was funny!" Ren shrugs with a laugh before he turns to his adoptive Father-figure "Hey, Sojiro…are you drunk? The party is still young, you know."

"I can handle my liquor." Sojiro chuckles before starting to make his way off "Once a year, I push myself to my limits…it's my way of celebrating surviving yet another year!"

"Jeez, he's completely blitzed." Ren says in wonder, as he watches Sojiro stumble, as he runs off.

"I've never seen him like that before…" Makoto mutters, wide eyed.

"Hey you two, you should be having more fun! Take these, then you won't be able to wait until the next celebration!" Futaba says as she hands some pills to the two of them.

"What the hell are these?" Ren asks suspiciously, as he eyes the heart embedded in the pill.

"Futaba, are these drugs?!" Makoto spluttered "You know I'm a cop, right?!"

"Oh relax, I got them from Takemi-san!" Futaba waves them off "They're no more illegal than a box of penicillin"

Makoto eyes the pill, she guess she trusts Tae-san enough to not be selling illegal drugs over the counter, _especially _to Futaba

"Believe me, you won't regret it if you take them." Futaba says with a wink. "What are you doing? Take it! It's not often that we'll get to have an experience like this!"

"Um…what exactly do they do?" Ren asks, and Futaba smiles.

"They do three things. First they keep you awake for a full day, they also give you hallucinations, and they also make you horny as hell!" Futaba says with a grin.

"That doesn't sound safe…" Makoto says with narrowed eyes.

"Wrong again, they're very good for the body. The pill removes all stress, which helps the soul stay cleansed, and looking young! If you worry too much, you'll age more quickly!" Futaba says, and Ren gives Makoto a doubtful look.

"I'm already horny…" Ren says, and Makoto glares at him.

"Just take it, they're legal, and it's a party." Futaba orders them and Ren grumbles.

_"Even after all this time, I'm still Tae-san's gineua-pig..."_

"So these are Tae-san's newest experiment?" Makoto asks, and Futaba nods.

"Not only are they expensive, they take a long time to produce, so only a limited amount of pills are produced, and no matter who you are, you can't buy more than ten pills at a time!" Futaba explains.

"How do you know all this? Have you used them?" Ren asks and Futaba grins

"Ohhhh yeah" She grins with a thumbs up "Me and Inari get _freeeeeeaky_"

Ren immediately regrets asking as he cringes and tries to wipe the scene of one of his best friends on top of his adoptive little sister out of his head

"Anything else we should know?" Makoto asks

"If you're gonna take them outdoors, make sure the coast is clear when you take them!" Futaba says urgently "Believe me, doing it in the street is hot but getting seen and some old lady screaming _Pervert! Pervert!_ and then having to run home completely bare ass naked because you can't remember when you left your clothes ruins the mood!"

Both Ren and Makoto stare wide-eyed at her

"What?" Futaba shrugs.

"That's oddly specific..." Ren gulps

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you tried it" Futaba smiles "I've been sneaking out at night and walking around the neighborhood wearing nothing but my glasses and a smile for ages now!"

"What you just described...that's illegal..." Makoto glares at her "That's _very _illegal"

"Ain't illegal if you don't get caught" Futaba brushes if off

"You _got _caught!" Makoto snapped

"Doesn't count, wasn't arrested" Futaba shook her head

"We were called in!" Makoto hissed "We have officers on the look out for exhibitionists in Shibuya!"

"Oh damn, better stick to the streets in Yongen, thanks for the tip" Futaba gives a thumbs up

"Wha-?!" Makoto gasps

"Oh relax, 'sides, Ren just took his" Futaba blows a raspberry

"Ren?!" Makoto gasps, and sure enough, his hand his empty and a large _gulp _emits from his throat

"Fuck it" Ren exclaims, and Futaba grins at him.

"Are you kidding me right now?" Makoto whispers

"Makoto, I just found out the girl I consider to be my little sister is an exhibitionist. No matter what, it can't get lower than this" Ren shrugs

"Again, don't knock it 'till you-" Futaba begins but Ren holds his hand to cut her off

"I better not regret this" Makoto groans and she pops the pill

"There ya go!" Futaba laughs "Alright you two, I took mine a while back and kicking in now, don't go into the garden for like, 20 minutes!"

Makoto and Ren stare wide eyed as the girl runs off. They both regret taking the pills now

"You two took her pills, didn't you?" Ryuji asks as he walks up behind them.

"Why is everybody walking up from behind us?" Ren mutters, and Makoto laughs.

"Yeah, we took them." Makoto admits, and Ryuji laughs.

"Wait till the show!" Ryuji says, and this causes the couple to look confused.

"The show?" Makoto echoes, and Ryuji nods his head yes, and grins at both of them.

"The new years fireworks! The visual effects that it'll give to those who are on the pills is gonna be insane." Ryuji explains, and Makoto looks shocked.

"How do you know about all of this, Ryuji?" Ren asks, and Ryuji grins.

"Ann told me." Ryuji admits. "This is my first time taking one of these, and I've heard incredible things about them. I've heard it only takes a few minutes to start working, too."

"Oh joy..." Makoto groans, but notices Sae's walking over "Sis?"

"What's wrong? You look nervous" Sae asks

"It's...well..." Makoto gulps as Ren is shaking his head

"Oh, did your friend give you one of those pills too?" Sae questions and all their eyes widen

"Sae-san..." Ren gulps "Did...did you..."

"I took one." Sae admits with a shrug. "She told me they weren't illegal and were a mood lightener, so I figured _why not_?"

"Really?!" Makoto squeals, and Sae nods.

"Oh lighten up Makoto, it's a party" Sae smiles as she walks away

"Well...your sister's getting laid tonight" Ren hums and Makoto hooks him in the ribs

"I'm just...I'm just gonna go" Ryuji says with a blush, before he walks away

"Better hide Sojiro" Ren says, and Makoto cringes at the thought of her sister and Ren's adoptive father-figure ending up in bed together.

"Quit talking like that." Makoto orders him, and Ren gives her a lopsided grin.

"Hey Makoto, are you feeling it yet?" Ren asks, and Makoto begins to nod.

"Your eyes look brighter than usual." Makoto says, as he stares at him.

"Your hair looks shinier than usual too" Ren says to her

"You love my hair." Makoto says arrogantly, and Ren nods as he stares at her dark colored hair.

"You're right…I do." Ren says, and then puts his arm around her.

"The show is about to start!" Ann's voice is loud enough that everyone who is lucky enough to be on one of the special pills wants to hurry outside, where the show will be held.

Once outside, Ren tightens his arm around Makoto as they get as high as possible to give them a good view.

The fireworks begin, and end up being an instant hit with all of the party-goers who are on the special pill. More erupt to wow the crowd, which has everyone saying 'ooh,' and 'ah!'

The show lasts an hour, and as the finale, one final firework lights up the sky, and the people on the pull get the maximum enjoyment that can possibly be had.

"We should find somewhere where I can get you naked and pregnant." Ren says, as he looks at his wife lustily.

"Sounds like fun," Makoto says with a wink, and they start running through the halls, to find a place where they can get busy.

They stop short, when they spot a familiar piece of cloth.

"Isn't that Futaba's kimono?" Makoto asks as the item of clothing is dropped beside an open door that leads into the garden

"Moving on!" Ren shouts, and this causes the horny couple to hurry away before they lose their own desire to make it.

"There's an empty room on this floor!" Makoto says suddenly, and Ren scowls. "I saw it earlier!"

"Why didn't you say of that sooner?" Ren asks, and Makoto winks at him.

"We can take a bath together and then we can have a long session of foreplay and then you can get me pregnant like you promised!" Makoto says with a big sexy smile, and Ren loses his scowl. He grabs her up in his arms.

"Tell me the way, I'll get us there faster!" Ren says breathlessly.

Makoto giggles and directs her husband, and when they reach the room, they're relieved to find it empty.

"Now for the bath!" Makoto says with a grin, and she turns the tap. "Wash me, Ren!" Makoto orders him.

"Tonight Makoto, anything goes. Anything you want me to do to you, I'll do without question." Ren promises her, and Makoto smiles.

"Oh tonight is going to be awesome!" Makoto exclaims, as she turns on the hot water and looks at Ren with a smile. "Get naked, now!" Makoto orders, and Ren smiles.

* * *

_Ryuji - Yo, Futaba, you lose a kimono? I found it on the floor somewhere. It had your room key in it, but not your phone, so I assume you got that on you_

_Ryuji - I handed it in to the front desk_

_Ryuji - Why'd you just leave it on the ground anyway?_

_Futaba - HEY_

_Futaba - EVER HAVE A NAKED GIRL KICK YOUR ASS?!_

_Ryuji - No?_

_Futaba- GUESS WHAT_

_Ryuji - What?_

_Futaba - IT'S YOUR LUCKY __DAY_

_..._

_Ryuji - Is that you knocking at my __door?_

_Futaba - YUP_

_Ryuji - Are you..._

_Futaba - NAKED?!_

_Futaba - ANGRY?!_

_Futaba - VERY MUCH SO_

_Futaba - OPEN THE DOOR SKULL_

_Ryuji - Do you at least want a towel?_

_Futaba - OPEN THE DOOR SKULL_


	32. Raising Maya

_A whole two weeks without an update? How unlike me..._

_So here's this. It was originally two chapters but both were short so I combined them into one. Also I'm aware it's ShuMako week in some circles but I won't be participating as most of the subject matter is stuff I've already covered in this fic._

* * *

_POTTY TRAINING_

Ren has bought every book imaginable so that he and Makoto can learn about parenting, but she hasn't even looked at one of them, highly unusual for Makoto. She prefers to just ask her husband about everything she doesn't know, and if he doesn't have an answer immediately for her, she expects him to find the answer.

He's not 100% why his usual bookworm wife has been avoiding what is essentially a guidebook on living the rest of her life with a baby, but he chalks it up to her having a motherly instinct good enough to know what she's doing.

They haven't done too shabby, Makoto has given them a beautiful daughter, with hair like hers, but the girl has his eyes, and the same attachment for his mother that he himself had as a young child, for his own mother.

_At least the books haven't gone completely to waste, I've read them._

Parenting is a wonderful yet terrifying thing. To be completely responsible for another human being, who is incapable of surviving on their own, is a humbling feeling to say the least.

His favorite part of having Maya though, is watching her interact with her mother. Whenever the two are together, Ren feels content beyond belief. They are way too adorable together, and his daughter has the same ability his wife has…Ren is wrapped around both their fingers.

Sure he is a parent, and he lays down the law from time to time, but he can only ever stay adamant when it's about little Maya's safety. Other than that, the vocal two year old is spoiled beyond belief.

The time has come to start potty training his daughter, and he's been reading up on the books, since he's sure Makoto hasn't even noticed that it's about the age where they're supposed to start.

He always wakes up early with his daughter, and lets Makoto sleep in, since she tends to stay up later in the night. It's actually quite nice, spending every morning with Maya, getting in that important quality father and daughter time before she becomes completely attached to his mother when she appears, as is his habit.

This morning is no different, at first. Ren gets up to spend quality time with his daughter, but today he has an agenda.

"Guess what sweetie? Today we're going to start with potty training!" Ren announces in an excited voice, hoping his excitement will rub off on the little tike.

"Potty training?" Maya echoes with great interest as she stares up at her father, and Ren grins.

"You're getting to be a big girl now, so I think it's time." Ren says,

"Why am I a big girl?" Maya demands, almost angrily, and Ren has to force himself not to laugh at the indignant look on his daughter's face.

"Because you're not a baby anymore," Ren explains, and his daughter looks more pissed about that fact than Ren could have expected.

"I'm the baby!" She says, and Ren wonders what approach is the best to take, since his daughter is responding to the positive of getting older, and wants to maintain her title of the baby.

"Being a baby is no fun. Being a big girl is really fun." Ren says, trying to coax his daughter into responding better to the big girl argument.

"I'm the baby!" His daughter screams quite adamantly, and Ren swiftly covers his daughter's mouth.

"You're going to wake your mother." Ren says, glancing behind him, and Maya smiles.

"Mommy calls me her baby." Maya informs her father, and Ren rolls his eyes.

"Isn't she helpful…" Ren mutters sarcastically.

It takes him two whole hours to convince his daughter that potty training will be fun. He only manages it because he informs his daughter that there will be treats involved when she gets it right, namely candy.

That gets his daughter's attention, and she's suddenly no longer interested in arguing about whether or not she's a baby. The candy has her on the same page as her father.

Of course Makoto has to walk down the stairs, right after Ren gets Maya all worked up over the reward system, and her daughter tears over into her arms as she spots her.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommmmyyyyy!" Makoto can hardly ignore her daughter when she's being so adamant, and so she looks down at her with a soft look on her face.

"What is it, Sweetie?" She asks, and Maya smiles proudly at her.

"Potty training!" She announces excitedly, and Makoto notices her little daughter is so excited she can barely contain himself.

"Potty training?" Makoto asks, and then she glances up at Ren, with a confused expression on her face

_She's two years old, Makoto..._

"Yeah!" Maya is jumping around like a tiny monkey in excitement of this so called potty training.

"I told her we were starting potty training today." Ren explains, and Makoto nods her head slowly.

"Learn with me Mommy!" Maya says, and Ren's mouth falls to the floor. Makoto laughs

"I'm already potty trained!" Makoto smiles at her daughter "But I'll help you learn"

"Yeah! Me and Mommy!" Maya cheers, and Ren makes the mistake of looking down at his daughter, rather than keeping his focus on his wife.

Makoto nearly laughs at the expression on her husband's face. He looks like he wants to argue, but can't. She looks down and sees her daughter laying it on thick. Puppy dog eyes, hands clasped together, and an adorable smile on her cherub face.

"Uh….okay…" Ren gives in, since he cannot say no to that adorable little face.

"Yay!" Maya cheers and she turns to latch onto her mother's leg.

"When do we start?" Makoto asks, and Ren shakes his head in disbelief.

"Uh…no better time than now." Ren says awkwardly, as he directs his daughter to the bathroom, where a brand new training toilet is waiting. Makoto looks quite intrigued by the mini toilet, and Ren takes a deep breath.

"Instead of going in your diapers, when you feel like you have to go, you're going to come and go in here." Ren says, pointing at the toilet. He lifts the little lid, and pulls his daughter away from Makoto. "You have to pull down your pants, and your diaper, and go in here." Ren says, and his daughter nods solemnly, before she looks at her mother, who is nodding and smiling. "And when you go in here like you're supposed to, you will get your reward!" Ren explains, and his daughter starts to nearly screech in excitement.

"Candy!" Maya squeals, and even Makoto starts jumping up and down with her daughter. Ren shakes his head again, at the silly duo.

"Wow Maya, you're so lucky!" She tells her, and she looks up at her solemnly.

"I will share my candy with you." Maya says magnanimously, and Ren nearly melts at the scene.

"That's because you're my wonderful little girl." Makoto whispers, before she leans down to kiss and hug her little girl.

Ren steps forward and pulls them both into his arms.

_Who knew I'd love having a family with Makoto, this much?_

* * *

_LEARNING ENGLISH_

Makoto is unsure of why Ren bought all kinds of different children's cartoons for Maya to watch, particularly since they're in English. She looks at the stack of videos, and then looks at her daughter.

_I bet he doesn't even understand this language. Did Ren know these were in English when he bought them? He had to have known!_

She waits for her husband to walk through the door from work before she mauls him.

"Ren!" Makoto shouts, and she leaps into her husband's arms.

Their daughter, not to be outdone, latches onto her father's leg, and sits on his foot, firmly attached, making it so that Ren has to lift his daughter's weight along with his own leg if he chooses to move.

"Hi Makoto." Ren says, since he's used to this kind of greeting.

He refuses to admit it, but he loves it when she throws herself into his arms like she does everyday when he gets home from work. It's a nice change from the cold, sheltered _Student Council President _Makoto

"Daddy!" Maya yells, and Ren sighs.

"Hi Maya." Ren says next, and he waits for his wife to let go, but she doesn't.

Ren carefully takes both his wife and his daughter over to the couch where he sits down, and adjusts Makoto so that she's sitting on one knee, and Maya scrambles up onto his other knee. As a father and husband, he feels his heart swell up in pride at the two beautiful brunette's who mean more to him than anyone else. His wife and daughter.

"Ren…are you aware that you bought cartoons that are all in English over the weekend?" His wife asks him suddenly, and Ren nods.

"Yeah. I did that purposely. I ordered them through the video store, so that Maya can start learning English. School will be easier for her if she starts learning it as early as possible." Ren explains, and Makoto's eyes widen.

"Why didn't you say so!? I could have been speaking to her in English this whole time!" His wife says, and Ren's eyes widen.

"You can speak English?" He asks in shock, and Makoto nods her head.

"I'm not fluent by any means, but I know a lot. Me and Ann sometimes talk in English." Makoto tells him, and Ren looks amazed.

"Really?" He asks her in awe, and his daughter begins to smack his cheeks.

"Cartoon!" Maya demands, and Makoto gets off of Ren's lap to put in one with a gray and white rabbit on the cover.

"Bugs Bunny?" Makoto asks softly with a big smile on her face

"You can read English too?" He says with surprise, and Makoto nods.

"I'm a Police officer, I intend to become Police commissioner. Learning other languages can help, like if a foreigner in Japan needs help but doesn't know the language." Makoto explains "I'm a Niijima, just like my Father and Sister, I have quite a reputation to live up to"

"You aren't a Niijima anymore." Ren grunts, and his wife blushes as she approaches him.

"It's my maiden name!" She says defensively, and she crosses her arms before she sits down next to him rather than his lap, and Maya moves over to her lap rather than Ren's. "I took your name when we got married, but I didn't get rid of mine, my name is Makoto Niijima-Amamiya. You need to understand that." She says in a firm voice, and Ren makes a face.

He'd forgotten that she'd hyphenated the names when they got married. She'd dropped the Niijima name in the casual conversation, but she'd kept it for documentation. He was let down, but he'd been willing to let her do whatever she wanted, so long as they wound up married in the end.

"You shouldn't let a name control who you are." Ren tells her as the opening credits end and the rabbit cartoon begins.

"There is nothing wrong with being me or wanting to learn new languages. Just because it's not something you'd want to do, doesn't mean I should stop aspiring to be the model officer that I intend to be." Makoto tells him.

Ren refuses to respond, because a big happy smile breaks out on Maya's face as she watches the rabbit mess around with the hunter of the video.

"Eh….what's up doc?" Comes from the television and Maya looks engrossed.

Ren watches his wife and daughter laugh merrily over the video, and then he realizes that she is talking softly to Maya in English.

"_Rabbit…_or _Bugs Bunny_." Makoto says softly, and their daughter seems avidly interested in the new video.

Ren is beyond horrified that his daughter has inherited his wife's love for cute, fluffy animals. He doesn't know whether to be thankful it's rabbits and not Panda's

_Later…_

"Come on, I'm taking you two out for dinner." Ren says in a rough voice, and Makoto's eyes widen.

"Really?" Makoto asks, and her husband nods his head.

"I don't feel like cooking tonight…so yeah." He says, and Makoto grins.

"I'll go change!" She says, before she grabs up Maya and pushes her into his father's arms.

Ren knows that if she doesn't do this, their daughter will follow her wherever she goes, and so he hangs on tight while his daughter reaches her arms out in the direction that Makoto is running off to.

"Give your ma a break for once, sweetheart." Ren says as he stares at his daughter with fascination. He knows he was also like his daughter, always around his mother, but he completely does not expect for his daughter to reach back and smack him across the face.

"Down!" Maya says in an angry voice, and Ren blinks a few times at his daughter.

He'd never spanked, or even really punished Maya before, but right know, he's genuinely considering bending her over his knee, since the stinging hasn't stopped.

"Do not hit Daddy." Ren says in a firm voice as he sets his daughter down on her own two feet and grabs firmly at her hands.

Maya takes one look at Ren's serious face, and her big silver eyes begin to well up with tears. Her Daddy is angry with her, and that scares her because he's never shown anything but unconditioned love to her before.

"I want Mama!" Maya shrieks, and Ren doesn't let his daughter go.

"You wouldn't want someone to hit you, right?" Ren asks his daughter quite seriously.

Maya seems to sense that it would not be pleasant, to be hit by anyone, let alone her father, so she begins to shake her head no.

"No…" Maya says, with tears rolling down his face.

"Then don't hit me, or anyone else!" Ren angrily tells her "Go and sit down on that chair right there, until I give you permission to get up." Ren says in the same angry and firm voice that has gotten his daughter all teary, and he lets go.

His daughter doesn't dare disobey. She climbs into the chair and watches her father nervously. Makoto walks back in the room to see her daughter crying, and a bright red mark on her husband's face.

"Is everything okay?" Makoto asks, as she touches his cheek where it's red, and Ren shakes his head at his wife.

"Maya was just testing her boundaries. I think I got through to her that she's not allowed to hit me." He says, as he glances over at his daughter who appears to be itching to get down and go to his mother, but she's still afraid of his father's temper.

"Well that's good." Makoto says with a smile, and Ren kisses her before he looks back at his daughter again.

"You can get up now." He says, and Makoto grins as Maya runs over and hugs her legs.

"_You cannot hit people_." Makoto tells her in English, and her daughter looks up at her with big eyes, as she tries to comprehend what she just said.

"You're going to be speaking English a lot in front of her now, aren't you?" Ren asks, and Makoto nods her head.

"If it will help her, then that's what I'll do." She says, and Ren grins.

_She may not know much about parenting, but once I explain stuff to her, she always works hard to participate and help get things done. She's good at teaching our daughter._


	33. Makoto Vs Ren

Note: Shout-out to a review for bringing this to my attention. Someone mentioned that this chapter is _very _similar to another fic called _Sparring Session_ by _MrMUnited95 _that was released just a little under two weeks before I published this chapter. I checked it out and _yeah_, **wow**, pretty similar, but it really was just a coincidence, I've had an idea for a Makoto Vs. Joker fight chapter for a while now and I've been working on it for the last few weeks. I guess two people just had the same idea (shrug).

Peace out

* * *

Makoto grins when she enters Ren's room after a long period of training with her Persona, one on one.

The shadows had noticed her power had been drastically increased, as they fled in terror at the sight of her, within a week, she had them fleeing at the sound of a motorcycle revving.

It seems that spending a lot of time with Ren, significantly raised her Persona's strength...

"We need to get you started on training so that you can fully utilize your power." Johanna had told her upon being materialized. Makoto's eyes had widened in shock, but she had wordlessly nodded her head.

During her time training with Johanna, Makoto realized Johanna wants Makoto to have enough power to protect Ren, too.

Within a week of training with Johanna, she informed her it was time to evolve, that the bonds she had forged had unlocked the next level of her Persona, to which Makoto had been speechless.

"I didn't think I had another level..." Makoto whispered, and Johanna had given her a sad smile.

"It takes time to master your Persona, but you need to get started, or else you and he will just end up getting killed. I can't have that." Johanna had revealed, and Makoto had spent the rest of her time in Mementos, training very hard, resting, or eating. She didn't spend any time socializing, because she understood that she had no time for slacking off.

Makoto had been amazed to learn just what all her Persona was capable of, it really surprised her that she was even capable of such power. She had grinned as she had realized that she would even be quite a handful for the very powerful and amazing Ren Amamiya. It had always bugged her a tiny bit that he had surpassed her own abilities in such a ridiculously quick amount of time.

She feels like she's on top of the world, when Ren enters his bedroom and nearly squawks when he sees her leaning up against the window with a soft smile on her face.

"Makoto! You're back!" Ren says as he closes the door. He wishes he could walk over and hug her, but if she pushes him away, he doesn't know how he'll be able to take that. "You've been a ghost for the last few weeks now"

"It's been awhile, huh Ren?" Makoto asks him with a grin, and a sparkle in her eyes.

"Yeah." Ren whispers, not wanting to admit that his life has been plain drab without her around making everything wonderfully complicated.

"Have you been training a lot?" Makoto asks, causing Ren to give her a strange look.

"Not really, just the usual visit to Mementos twice a week." Ren replies, with a bit of a smirk.

"Well I've been training intensely, and I'd like to go to Mementos and keep going." Makoto tells Ren, who's eyes widen.

"Now?" Ren asks her with a bit of surprise.

"Yes now. Do you want to come with me?" Makoto asks him with a pointed stare. Ren finds himself smiling before he even realizes it.

"Of course I want to come with you." Ren says with a grin. Makoto winks at him.

"Great. We can train together." Makoto tells him, and Ren dips his head to the side.

"Are you sure?." Ren tells her in a quiet voice, causing Makoto to slug him in the chin.

"Don't assume I'm so weak. In fact, I'll even challenge you to a friendly battle. You can even use multiple Persona's if you want to." Makoto tells him, causing Ren to scoff.

"I wouldn't use the Wild Card in training against you," Ren says, and then he stops before he pisses her off, since the rest of what he's thinking certainly would piss her off.

"That's interesting. I wouldn't hesitate to use any Persona against you." Makoto tells him, and Ren rolls his eyes.

"Keep dreaming." Ren tells her, and Makoto just keeps smiling.

"Are you taking my challenge, or are you chickening out?" Makoto asks, and Ren rolls his eyes.

"Fine. I accept your challenge, but you're not allowed to cry if you lose." Ren warns her, and Makoto's eyes flash defiantly at him, as she smiles a bit wider.

"The same goes for you." Makoto says in an even voice, and Ren is impressed. She sure can talk a good game.

"I'm amazed you can say those things to me, yet I'm fairly certain you would never challenge Sae like this." Ren tells her, and Makoto gasps.

"Of course I would never challenge Sis." Makoto says with a shake of her head. "I would never hit her either." Makoto says in a pointed voice, and Ren glares at her for that remark.

"Now I feel special," Ren mutters angrily under his breath, but Makoto either didn't hear him, or she pretended not to. He can't tell which it is. He doesn't expect her to just walk past him, and he ends up having to chase after her since she doesn't wait for him, she just starts heading to the train station.

_I can't wait to see the look on his face when I show him what I've accomplished._

Ren can sense that something is different about Makoto, now that she's back. He tries to figure it out, but he can't pinpoint what about her has changed. Ren doesn't really relish the idea of a mock battle with her, after all, of all of the people he has the resolve to be able to cut, she is simply not one of those people.

_She looks downright eager to cut me though._

Ren feels a bit sulky. He had missed her while she was gone, not that he'd come out and say so, and she acts like they haven't spent any time apart, except for to say it's been awhile.

When they arrive at the train station, Makoto activates Mementos on her phone and the two work their way down until they can find an empty area without shadows

"You ready?" Queen asks, cracking her knuckles

"I'll try not to hurt you too bad" Joker informs her with a sly smirk

"Then get ready to lose" Makoto huffs

"Your fists of Justice Vs. my showstopping abilities" Ren chuckles "Let's see what more damage"

They get into their fighting stances, and Makoto gives Ren a superior look with a small smile as she equips her brass knuckles as Ren draws his knife and the chase begins.

"Arsene!" Ren calls out as the winged phantom appears beside him, he firs small bursts of Eiha towards the charging Queen, each of which she gracefully dodges

His speed pales in comparison to hers, her stamina is immense, which is quite useful whenever she's about to chase a shadow, since he can't run from her, he has no choice but to jump away or get hit. Ren does not notice how she hasn't even summoned Johanna

As they keep going, Ren starts to get frustrated, just as Makoto had expected him to do. It's driving him crazy that he hasn't already won this mock battle. Just as Ren is about to catch her, she brings throw a kick, which Ren's blocks with his arm. He grabs her foot and throws her over her shoulder, Makoto lands on her back and Ren jumps into the air, intending to strike with a final blow. Makoto immediately turns and flies at him with fists drawn, and Ren's eyes widen as he realizes he's nearly caught.

"Damn it!" Ren shouts at the top of his lungs.

Makoto attempts to uppercut him right in the jaw, but he whips his head back to avoid her. As he lands on the ground he immediantly launched himself back into the air and throws a kick to Makoto's gut. Makoto's arms absorb most of the impact but its enough to send her flying back, her feet grinding across the ground until she regains her stature. Ren glares at Makoto as he blocks her attack. She's a cunning and difficult opponent. She's not nearly as easy to defeat as he had imagined she might be.

"Why aren't you using your Persona?" Ren says in a teasing voice, and Makoto gives her an even bigger glare, since it's like she refuses to take him seriously. Now that she's lost her temper, she forgets all about chivalry and fair fighting.

"Fine. You want it? You got it. Persona!" Makoto doesn't wait any more. "Come, _Anat_!" Makoto calls out, causing Ren's mouth to drop completely to the floor.

"Anat?" Ren asks in shock, as the blue flames are flying all around her. He can hardly believe it when it finally appear. It's not a motorcycle but instead what looks like a bipedal robot, essentially if Johanna transformed into a humanoid form, like that American cartoon he watched as a child, the name escaped him at the moment...

Makoto holds out her hand as a blue ball of energy surges infront of Anat.

"Freidyne" Makoto whispers

Makoto aims the swirl at him and he's instantly targeted by the nuclear blast, Ren nearly screams in terror as it flies right past his face. Makoto responds by arming another blast

"Eihadyne!" Ren calls out frantically, as he starts to try and break apart the Freidyne that's coming right for him. With every blast he negates, another flies at him again. Ren cringes as one blast very nearly misses his manhood.

_What is she trying to do to me?_

Ren realizes he can't get out of her range, no matter how hard he attempts to, even though he's able to avoid her attacks. He's starting to get tired and it's hard to move, not only that, it's getting harder to breathe.

There's only one way to get out of this…and Ren isn't at all proud that he has to do it.

"Persona!"

Arsene disappears as instead Raphael is summoned, its holy power is enough to blow away all of the nuclear attacks coming from Anat. When a sudden burst of energy, Ren leaps forward, keeping low enough to avoid any more potential Frei strikes

Makoto gasps as Ren is charging towards her with at a million miles per minute. He thrusts his knife forward and she shuts her eyes tight. A few seconds pass as she opens them back up, witnessing Ren holding up the knife, carefully a few inches from her neck

"Ren!" Makoto says, in shock, and Ren is still breathing hard, from what he feels was his near death

"Were you trying to kill me?" Ren snaps at her as he yanks his blade away and starts to stomp away from her. Makoto's mouth drops open at that comment.

He is quite livid that she brought him to the point of having to use the Wild Card against her. He had no idea that she could cultivate that kind of power…the kind that made his amazing abilities, irrelevant.

He looks around at how everything has been blasted away by Makoto's frei attacks, and he realizes she could have captured him, no matter where he would have gone. Not only that, but her new Persona is absolutely amazing…just like her.

"Not one of my blasts even touched you..." Makoto says quietly, and Ren gives her an angry glare.

"They came close enough!" Ren roars at her, and he realizes she's trying not to smile at him.

"Are you surprised Ren? That I have a new Persona?" Makoto asks him, not even seeming worried about his anger, or his near death. Ren shakes his head yes, and he feels a smile breaking on his face.

"I'm beyond surprised. I had no idea that you were even working on it" Ren admits softly, and Makoto smiles.

"I'm still training to master it, but I'm very happy with how it's all turned out." Makoto tells him with a wide smile. "It was much more fun to show you than to just tell you." Makoto says with sparkling eyes, and Ren loses all of his anger completely.

"I was dumbfounded." Ren admits with a whisper. He looks at her in her Phantom thief attire. She looks absolutely, breathtakingly beautiful.

"You're the first person to see it." Makoto tells Ren with a blushing grin.

"Really?" Ren asks with a whisper. Makoto shakes her head no.

"I only obtained it recently, and I have yet to master it. I'd prefer to show the others after I have it mastered." Makoto explains.

"Doesn't the strategist of the Phantom Thieves an obligation to report it?" Ren asks her cheekily, and Makoto nods her head yes at him.

"Well, maybe a break the rules isn't so bad. Since I'd have to tell them why-" Makoto stops mid sentence. She hadn't meant to reveal so much, sometimes it's just so easy to talk to Ren that she forgets she shouldn't just say whatever comes to her mind.

"Tell them what?" Ren asks, suddenly curious. It's even more intriguing when she blushes.

"Nothing." Makoto mutters as she dissipates her Persona and her mask returns.

"I won the match, now you have to tell me," Ren reasons, and Makoto blushes again.

"It's private." Makoto mutters, and Ren gets a surprised and hurt expression on his face at being told that.

"I thought you trusted me?" Ren asks in a confused voice, and he doesn't miss how her face turns an even brighter shade of red than it had previously been. She lets out a loud defeated sigh.

"Fine, I'll tell you, but you better not run off crying when I do!" Makoto threatens him, and Ren nods as he dissipates Raphael and puts his mask back on.

"Alright, shoot." Ren tells her, and Makoto looks at the ground as she gives her explanation.

"Johanna knows how important it is to me to be able to still protect you." Makoto says in a low voice, refusing to meet his eyes. Ren's eyes soften right up. He forgets all about how close she came to killing him, and removing his manhood with her Persona.

"You never change…always trying to protect others." Ren tells her in an amused voice, and Makoto slowly looks up to meet his eyes. Her big red eyes are very large when she responds to him. There's a lump in her throat, but if she's going to tell him this, it might as well be now.

"I want to protect you, because I love you." Makoto tells him, and Ren is shocked beyond all belief. "I...I just wanted you to know that..."

He never expected her to show him her newly acquired Persona, let alone confessing her true feelings to him. It's not as though he didn't know, he's always known, how much he loves her, and that she returns his feelings.

"That's my line," Ren tells her in a soft voice as they stare in each other's eyes. Makoto's lips curve into a smile.

"Is it now?" Makoto asks him, and Ren finally gives into the temptation.

He snatches her up in his arms and kisses her and holds her tight in his arms to let her know that she's not the only one of them, who feels love.

When he pulls away, Makoto is stunned by the love she sees clearly in his eyes. She also realizes that the love has always been there, and she's always failed to notice how brightly it shines in his eyes.

"I'll be loving you and protecting you for as long as I live." Ren whispers as he stares into her eyes.

"Right back at you!" Makoto says with a laugh and then she throws her arms around him and hugs him close. She lays her head against his chest and truly enjoys the feelings of her arms around him, and his arms around her.

Neither one of them say what they're thinking, so they don't realize that they are having the exact same thoughts.

_I'll keep getting stronger so that nothing bad ever happens to you._


	34. First Date

Ren sweats. It's summer vacation and he finally told Makoto exactly how he felt for her the day before yesterday. She had been shocked that he'd finally opened up to her, but after a moment she'd given him a beautiful smile and she had admitted that she returned his very strong romantic feelings of love. He had kissed her and she had leaned in and wound her arms around his neck and kissed him back.

He was still a bit surprised that it hadn't been awkward. After they'd pulled away breathlessly, he had asked her out on a real date. He had asked her to Shibuya's Summer Festival. This is where he planned to make their debut to his friends as a couple. They didn't have specific plans to meet his friends there, but Ren planned on keeping Makoto on their date for most of the afternoon and evening, so they were bound to be spotted by his friends. That day was today and the date was set to start at three in the afternoon.

Her eyes had lit up at his suggestion and she had asked him what she should wear for an event like that. He had given her a longing smile and told her he had really liked the kimono she had worn at the fireworks festival. Makoto had given him a pleased smile and she had disappeared yesterday afternoon to go shopping for a kimono for her first date with Ren. She refused to let him see it until they were on their date though. Ren hadn't minded, her eyes had looked so bright and happy, and perhaps even a little bit mischievous.

Now it's nearly time for their date, and he was nervous but he is also anticipating what a date with Makoto will be like. She had taken over his room a half hour ago, telling him she needed privacy. He was sitting downstairs waiting for her, dressed in a new shirt and a nice pair of pants. His hair is the same as always, but his wallet is much fatter today than it usually is.

When Sojiro had heard he finally asked Makoto on a date, his caretaker had pressed a large wad of money in his hands. He had grinned at Ren and told him to be sure Makoto had a great time. Ren had grinned at his father and had nodded his head in agreement.

She should be walking into the room, ready to go any second now. Ren hopes nothing goes wrong on their first date. Then he amends that thought and hopes nothing ever goes wrong on any date he's on with Makoto.

Futaba walks into the doorway and leans up against it with her arms crossed.

"I wonder if anybody else can claim to have their date get ready in their room for their first date." Futaba remarks in a voice that's tinged with amusement.

"Makoto's not a normal girl." Ren remarks and then groans at the way it sounded.

"Of course not, no normal girl would have you." Futaba says back, pleased with her quick retort.

"No true, you also annoy me. Go away." Ren tells her, not needing this conversation before his date.

"I guess then that we should all be really grateful that she popped into your life, otherwise you might have started to experiment with guys." Futaba says as she turns and walks away. Ren sends an angry glare in her direction. Sojiro grumbles as he watch his two adopted kids banter, they really were like Brother and Sister...

"You look ready!" Sojiro pops up, trying to change the subject. "Where's Makoto-chan?"

"She should be down here any second." Ren says, still annoyed Futaba's remark. Sojiro gives Ren a pointed stare.

"Try not to start your date with a sour attitude." Sojiro warns him. Ren swallows and nods.

"I can only do that if you keep Futaba away from me until I get back." Ren warns him and Sojiro chuckles.

"Her tongue sure has gotten much sharper, thanks to you." Sojiro says to Ren, causing Ren to glance up in surprise. He doesn't like that he said that.

"She did not learn that from me." Ren protests, without much confidence, even as he wonders if what hesaid was true.

"Where else would she have learned it?" Sojiro asks, exasperated.

"You're bugging me too..." Ren mutters under his breath

Luckily for Ren, Makoto appears in the doorway a second later, looking very beautiful in a light blue kimono with large purple flowers. She gives him a big smile and he immediately forgets his family issues. Her hair is up and in clips and she looks very dressy and attractive.

"Makoto, wow." Ren says, taking in her appearance with wide appreciative eyes. Makoto grins at his reaction. It was exactly what she had been hoping for when she'd picked out this kimono and styled her hair. She had hoped his eyes would widen and he would look excited.

"I'm glad you like it. Shall we go?" Makoto asks him. Ren walks over to her and takes her hand and squeezes it a bit.

"Sure." He tells her as he looks down at her with a small smile playing at his lips. "I hope you have fun today." Ren tells her before they head for the door. She squeezes his hand back.

"I don't doubt that I will." Makoto says as they walk out the door. Sojiro offers them a smile as the door shuts behind them. Finally. Sojiro thinks as he hopes nothing screws up his adoptive son's first date with the girl he loves.

Ren keeps glancing at his beautiful date as they make their way towards the festival. It isn't two minutes after they leave his house when Ann and Shiho notice them from across the street.

Makoto and Ren hadn't noticed them though until they ran across the street to greet them. Ann has a dumbfounded look on her face as she looks at their clasped hands. She notices Makoto is smiling calmly and Ren is not meeting her gaze although he's blushing a bit as he looks a bit to the left and over her head.

"Are you guys dating?" Shiho finally managed to say in a near squeak. Ann just looks at them with a wide eyed shocked look as she waits for a response from one of the two of them. Makoto is still smiling and Ren clears his throat nervously.

"Yes." Ren tells her, feeling a bit uncomfortable, although he's pretty sure it's because of Shiho's expression. "What?" Ren finally asks her.

"Nothing." Shiho says after she finally closes her mouth.

"It's our first date." Makoto supplies with a smile. She feels Ren's hold on her hand tighten just a tiny bit. "We're headed to the festival." She informs them. Shiho just nods wordlessly and Ann looks at them with desperation in her eyes.

"Oh." Ann finally says in a very depressed sounding voice when Shiho says nothing.

"Something wrong?" Ren asks both of them, a bit annoyed at their reaction. He doesn't get why they both look a little bit disappointed that he's on a date.

"Nothing..I-I was just surprised. I thought you...I thought you were just friends." Ann says, like she can barely get the words out.

"Things change." Ren says shortly before pulling Makoto around the both of them. Makoto looks up at Ren and tries to forget the way the girls looked unhappy at the news, after all she's with Ren on her first date and she's dreamed about this for so long. They will not ruin it for her. They finally make it to the festival and Makoto seems very enchanted with it all.

Ren smiles with satisfaction as she looks around wide eyed at all the games, rides, food, and people. He can practically feel the excitement exuding from her body and he grins. He takes her over to where they're selling caramel covered apples and he buys her one. Makoto's eyes widen with pleasure over the wondrous taste of this treat.

They walk around for a little while until they run into Yusuke who's being followed by two of his older classmates. They appear to be arguing over something as they both try to pull him closer. Yusuke's eye light up with relief when he sees them at the distraction of it.

"Ren-san! Makoto-san! You're here together? Like on a date?" He asks them with a smile. The girls stop arguing and look at the couple that currently has their younger classmate's attention. They watch as the very short dark haired girl blushes and nods her head yes. Then they look up at Yusuke's dark haired friend next.

"Yes, I invited her on a date to the festival." Ren tells Yusuke's. His friend smiles happily at him.

"It took you long enough, haven't you had a thing for her for ages?" He asks. Makoto smiles at this. She's had a thing for Ren for ages too.

"Come on Yusuke-kun, I want something to eat." One girl tells him as she tugs on his arm possessively.

"I want you to win me a prize!" The other girl tells him.

"Who even are you two?" Yusuke questioned and Makoto and Ren let out a surprised gulp. They really should have known better but for a few moments there, it genuinely looked like Yusuke was a player with two girls all to himself "You've been following me around since I arrived, it's quite rude"

"Oh now, really Yusuke-kun" One pouts as they wrap around his arm

"Do not touch me" Yusuke states as the other girl wraps around his other arm. Yusuke give Ren a sheepish and apologetic look as the girls drag him away. He doesn't appeared to be too broken up about it though

"Want to go on a ride?" Ren asks her. She grins.

"Sure," Makoto tells him with a smile. He takes her to an exciting one for the carnival where you sit in a car and it goes all the way around, spinning you upside down. She loves that so much she screams as they fly around and she loves the sensation of it. Makoto laughs as Ren leads her over to some food. It's there that they run into Ryuji, who isn't surprised by the news that they're dating, but he is surprised Ren brought Makoto somewhere so public for their first date, and even more than that, he's holding her hand.

He wonders what kind of comments the two have had to hear since they started on their date today. Ren and Ryuji give each other a knowing glance he breaks out into smiles for the couple.

"Congrats." Ryuji had said after they'd made their announcement. "Knew you two'd end up together eventually"

"Thank you." Makoto had said for both of them.

"Have you seen Ann yet?" Ryuji asks next as he looks a bit concerned.

"Yes, we saw her while we were on our way here, she was with Shiho." Ren tells him, and Ryuji nods.

"Was she heading here?" Ryuji asks next, he thinks he'll keep an eye out for her.

"I have no idea, we didn't ask." Ren answers. He stops talking to them since it's their turn to order food. Ryuji walks off since he doesn't want to intrude on a first date. Ren and Makoto are uninterrupted for quite awhile and they very much enjoy that.

He wins her a teddy bear, and a stuffed panda, which she appears to cherish. She rewards him with a kiss for each prize he wins her too. He takes her to sample all different kinds of food and lets her play many games.

Ren and Makoto find a guy who you can pay to throw pies at and they both take part in it. Makoto nails the guy in the face with the pie and hugs Ren in reaction. The moment they pull away, someone pokes Ren's shoulder and he turns around.

"Kawakami-Sensei!" Ren says in surprise. Makoto's eyes widen, but she smiles anyways. Their teacher grins at them and she looks at them approvingly.

"I always suspected to two were an item. Remember you have to do something exciting to make it memorable!" She says with a grin before walking away, leaving the two of them red faced.

Ren and Makoto finally leave the festival, filled from food and fun. As they're on their way home, they run into one last classmate, Eiko. She squeals in excitement at the news.

"How great! I was wondering when you two would finally hook up, it's been obvious that you were into each other for the longest time!" Eiko sings as she quickly dances off. Ren and Makoto grin as they shake their heads. Ren smiles over how smoothly everything went and with how often he'd gotten to see her smile.

"Thank you for coming with me tonight, I am lucky to have such a beautiful date." Ren whispers as they approach the train station. Her train arrives and Ren stops her. There's one more thing he must do before the date ends. He leans down and kisses her. A soft and gentle kiss that quickly turns passionate. He pulls away breathing hard from the sensations that had been invoked from her kiss.

"Thank you for inviting me out," Makoto says happily and breathlessly.

"I look forward to many more firsts with you." Ren had confided before Makoto walks onto her train, waving goodbye as it pulls out of the station

The first date had been a success, and Ren's so relieved he doesn't mind any of his friend's remarks. When he's with Makoto, everything just seems perfect and that's why he wants her in his life for all time.


	35. Pregnancy Woes

"Ryuji, why on earth did you bring her over? One pregnant woman is enough!" Ren hisses in his lowest possible voice since he doesn't want to be overheard by the highly emotional and highly hormonal woman he married.

"Ren, I want pickles and ice cream!" Makoto calls out, causing Ren's face to turn a greenish color.

"All I want to eat is fried chicken and rice!" Ann tells Makoto. "Maybe you'll like it better with whipped cream rather than ice cream, that was my absolute favorite." Ann tells Makoto, causing Ren to actually gag.

"Get some fried chicken and rice for her too!" Makoto says, nodding her head at her pregnant friend.

"You're coming with me!" Ren drags Ryuji out of the house.

"Fine!" Ryuji mutters.

"Are you insane? Are you freaking insane? What were you thinking?" Ren asks in a much louder voice now that they're out of the house.

"Ann said she wanted to hang out with Makoto, since she doesn't feel fat when she's around another pregnant lady. She asked me with tears in her eyes, and so there you have it." Ryuji grumbles to Ren.

"I can't handle having two pregnant women at my house, we need to think of an excuse to disappear when we get back with their food." Ren tells him. Ryuji nods.

"As sweet as Ann usually is, every day is a challenge now that she's pregnant. The smallest things set her off and make her cry. She was watching a cartoon and she started crying during it! A cartoon!" Ryuji says with a scowl.

"Makoto hasn't done much crying, she's done more bitching and yelling than anything else. Even pregnant, she hardly cries. I can't wait for the horny stage." Ren says with a small laugh.

"Shouldn't that be starting any day now?" Ryuji asks, he read the pregnancy book with Ann, when she looked like she might cry if he didn't.

"I know, that's why I can't wait," Ren tells him with another grin.

"You two already have an active sex life," Ryuji says, remembering how twice last week he'd brought Ann over, only to hear Makoto and Ren being incredibly loud from passion when they got there. They could hear them clear outside. Ren blushes.

"Shut up!" Ren growls. He doesn't like being reminded that he and Makoto tended to get so wild that the neighbors could hear them.

"You should consider soundproofing your bedroom, seriously, you might traumatize your kid if you don't within the next two years." Ryuji says in his know it all tone.

"Shut up! For crying out loud, what Makoto and I do in the privacy of our own home is nobody else's business," Ren mutters.

"You're the one who brought up sex." Ryuji points out.

"No I brought up a stage in pregnancy, you brought up sex." Ren corrects him.

"Same difference," Ryuji says with a scoff.

"You're wrong." Ren argues.

"Forget it." Ryuji says with a sigh.

They finally decide that when they get back with food that they're going to tell Makoto and Ann that they're going to go visit Yusuke for a bit.

When they finally make it back with the specified food, they quickly run out the door with yells that they're visiting Yusuke. Makoto looks at Ann.

"I think our husbands just escaped." She tells her, and Ann giggles.

"I've been crying a lot," Ann admits. "I think it drives him crazy." Her eyes well up with tears at those words and Makoto quickly comforts her friend.

"Don't let it bother you, it's not like he has to carry a load around in his body for months on end." Makoto says indignantly.

"I know, but I can't help crying, I can't seem to stop myself," Ann says as tears roll down her face to prove her point. Makoto takes a big bite of pickle and moans before grabbing a scoop of ice cream

"Oh yeah, this is hitting the spot," Makoto says with a mouth full of ice cream and a look of pure satisfaction on her face. Ann picks up some of her chicken.

"I am pretty hungry," Ann says before she stops crying and takes a bite. Her eyes light up happily. "Tasty!" She says, smiling through her teary eyes.

"You're right, this is fantastic!" Makoto tells her, and they both stop talking to pig out on food that they'd been craving. When Makoto and Ann have finally had their fill, Ann sits back and sighs.

"I don't like being pregnant." Ann admits to Makoto. Makoto's eyes widen a bit at this admission.

"Really? I love it!" Makoto says with a grin. "I think Ren loves it too, secretly of course," Makoto says with a laugh.

"I can't control any of my emotions. I think that this will be the only one me and Ryuji have." Ann tells her softly. "I am going to get on the pill after my baby is born."

"You have to do what's best for you. It's your body," Makoto says, surprising Ann.

"I thought you'd try to talk me into having more," Ann says with a smile.

"Just because I want to have enough kids to have an official Amamiya baseball team doesn't mean you have to as well. I've always believed in a woman's right to reproductive choices." Makoto tells her. "My choice just happens to be that I want to have a ton of babies with Ren." Makoto says still smiling, her eyes sparkling.

Ann is horrified when she realizes a thought just crossed her brain that never should have.

_Would I feel the same way if I were married to Ren?_

She pushes that thought away and out of mind as quickly as possible.

"I don't know how you do it, it seems like you've barely changed since you got pregnant. You still seem like the same girl you were before you got pregnant," Ann tells her with amazement in her voice.

"Ren would disagree with you there," Makoto tells her with a wink, causing Ann to giggle a little bit.

"When we came over both times last week, it sounded like your relationship was really good," Ann says with a blush, as she recalls the passionate moans and the shouts that indicated that the couple were getting their rocks off last week. Makoto smiles.

"He looks at me the same way he did before I got pregnant, like I am the tastiest treat he's ever had, and the most fun ride that he's ever ridden," Makoto says with a huge smile. Ann smiles back.

"I haven't had the desire to…you know." Ann whispers with embarrassment. Makoto looks at her miserable friend. Pregnancy just doesn't agree with everybody and Ann was one of those people. It seemed to drain her and make her completely depressed. Her breasts have always been large, but now it looks like she has extra large basketballs in her shirt.

"You haven't wanted to? Why not?" Makoto asks her curiously. She had been under the impression that Ryuji was as hot for Ann as Ren was for her.

"I feel so huge and ugly. Plus, the last time I thought I'd do it, just to make him happy, it took awhile to get him in the mood. That really bothered me. Before I got pregnant, that never happened," Ann admits. Makoto's eyes soften in understanding.

"You're still beautiful." Makoto whispers to her friend. "I'm sure Ryuji thinks so too."

"The joy that I overheard you and Ren experiencing last week is something I have never experienced." Ann says as she lets more tears fall from her eyes. Makoto's eyes widen in shock.

"You've never enjoyed it?" Makoto asks her in shock.

"No, I didn't mean that, Ryuji...he's thorough, gentle. Before I got pregnant, it's not that I didn't enjoy it, I just never...screamed." Ann says as she bites her lip.

Makoto can't help but grin. Ren is in terrific shape and he does his best to please her every time, but what pleases Makoto most is hard, fast, and heart pounding sex and Ren often has difficulty keeping up with her demands. Lately though, she's been feeling extra sensitive and Ren has taken care of her perfectly.

"You have to tell him to go faster and harder then." Makoto says logically, and her friend's eyes widen to huge proportions.

"I could never!" Ann says with her mouth gaped open. Makoto's never been open when discussing sex like this before, she figures it must be the hormones

"He won't know what you want unless you tell him though," Makoto argues sensibly.

"If they knew what we were talking about right now, they'd be so mad at us." Ann whispers as she glances at the door.

"I have the perfect idea for you! This is what you do. You wait until he's asleep and then you pull down his boxers and get him going with your mouth. When he wakes up all disoriented and ready to go, you tell him he's going to have a real workout tonight. When he starts, you should only say two things. Faster and harder. Say it over and over until you hear yourself screaming the way you heard me scream. Then you'll feel better!" Makoto tells her with a grin. The pregnancy has made her not as self conscious about lovemaking as Ren is, and she has no problems discussing it with her friend. Her friend on the other hand seems to be having a lot of difficulty.

"I don't know if I can do that!" Ann says with a gasp.

"You have to do it." Makoto tells her in a hard voice. "You want to be happy don't you?" She asks her. Ann nods.

"Yes." She answers softly.

"Just find the courage to do it, I think you'll be happier tomorrow if you take my advice tonight." Makoto tells her. Ann nods. She does want to be happy, and even though Makoto's as pregnant as she is, and just as big in the belly, she seems quite happy. Maybe it's because she vocalizes what she wants to make her happy.

"You're right. I will take a page from your book tonight!" Ann says with new resolve. Makoto grins at her.

"That's the spirit!" Makoto says in an apparent cheer.

They watch the television until their husbands turn back up, and the ladies both smile at their husbands as they enter. Ann feels a bit of nervousness when she looks at her husband and imagines the things they'll do in bed tonight.

"I'm home Makoto." Ren announces as he walks inside and walks over to her and plants a big kiss on her cheek.

"Hey, " Makoto says grinning.

"We're going to head home." Ryuji tells them.

"Come over tomorrow," Makoto instructs Ann.

"Okay," she answers, knowing that Makoto will want details on how her night went when she took Makoto's advice. Ryuji helps his wife get up from the couch and they walk at a fairly slow pace to the door. Ren watches them go with a sigh of relief.

"How are you feeling?" Ren asks her in a murmur when the door shuts behind their friends. He starts to rub her shoulders and Makoto lets out a moan of pleasure at that.

"That feels so nice…don't stop." Makoto whispers. Ren grins. As much as she orders him around, she outshines all other women…even when she's pregnant. He doesn't mind all of her demands as much as he acts like he does.

"Okay," Ren says, and he spends a long while rubbing her shoulders while she enjoys it.

"I gave Ann sex advice today." Makoto tells him. It's this statement that ends the rub. Ren's hands still on her shoulders.

"What?" He asks her with apparent nervousness.

"She mentioned that she hasn't ever had the kind of enjoyment that she heard you and I having, so I gave her advice." Makoto explains, and Ren guffaws.

"What did you tell her?" Ren asks with a red face.

"I told her to tell him what she wants, like I do with you. Keep rubbing Ren!" Makoto says, a bit annoyed at how he stopped. He starts rubbing, a bit slower though.

"You told her that you do that with me?" Ren says, horrified. He never wanted anybody to know that much about their sex life.

"Of course! You want to know something really interesting?" Makoto asks him with a smile.

"Sure," Ren says, dreading whatever might come out of her mouth next.

"All that talking about it put me in the mood…bad." Makoto tells him, and she turns around to meet his gaze. He has a hungry look in his eyes. It never takes much to get him rearing to go. He grabs her up and takes the steps two at a time to get her to the bed. He gently lays her in bed and sheds his clothes at light speed. He proceeds to remove her own with the same haste, and he looks at her body with all the desire in the world shining in his eyes.

"Damn you're beautiful." Ren tells her before he climbs on top of her and starts kissing her.

* * *

_The Next Day_

"So, how did it go?" Makoto asks Ann who is smiling more brightly today.

"It was amazing!" Ann replies with a smile that reaches her eyes. "He got so surprised when I started telling him to go faster and harder, but he did it and…I screamed!" Ann admits with a blush.

"Good for you!" Makoto says with a smile.

"I haven't cried once today yet either!" Ann says in an amazed voice.

Ren and Ryuji walk in for Makoto's last comment.

"Men are too stupid to figure out what a woman wants without being told," Makoto says. This causes Ryuji to cut the visit short to take his wife home, and Ren drags his wife up to their bedroom so that she can tell him exactly what she wants.


	36. Snow Day

29 year old Ren Amamiya slowly opened his eyes on a cold January morning. He however was warmly snuggled against his wife of 6 years, Makoto. His nose was nuzzled in her auburn colored hair as he embraced the warmth her body provided. He noticed her stir and knew she was awake.

"Mornin' Makoto" he smiled as he kissed her ear.

"Morning Ren" she returned. She turned around and snuggled into his warm chest. They sat there in a wonderfully comfortable silence for a few minutes, just snuggling each other when Ren realized something.

"You know what's weird?" he asked in a loving voice.

"Hmmm?"

"I woke up on my own today."

"Me too" Makoto replied, taking a second before her eyes got big.

"It's 9 am, and it's quiet" Ren stammered.

"_Too quiet_." Ren and Makoto both jumped out of bed simultaneously and ran downstairs to find the little brown haired girl of their concerns happily swinging her legs on the couch watching a cartoon, all while clinging tightly to her Buchimaru. Her dark brown hair showed obvious signs of bed head. Her silver eyes glanced happily up to her mother and father. Her smile took up her entire face.

"Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" she smiled when she noticed her parents standing on the staircase. Their look of worry instantly grew to a look of relief upon seeing that their daughter had not broken anything or injured herself while they were asleep. After all, she was only 5.

"Good morning Maya" They sighed in relief as they finished their trek down the stairs. Little Maya ran over to her father who scooped her up in his powerful arms.

"You want some breakfast sweetie?" He smiled as he ruffled her hair; causing giggles to come from the little girl. She nodded her head while giggling and Ren plopped her down at the table.

Makoto opened the fridge to find some apple juice when Ren decided to whisper something in Maya's ear. Maya giggled again and nodded her head. Makoto turned around with a suspicious glare on her face but continued to pour the apple juice, till Ren began to tickle her sides from behind. She almost threw the apple juice in the air, but her _Queenly_ instincts kicked in. She grabbed the nearby orange and promptly pelted him in the head. Maya's face was red from laughter as Ren and Makoto's little game continued.

These morning squabbles occurred so often that the couple kept a pair of toy swords under the sink. Their Phantom Thief skills kicking in, Maya watched in awe the epic battle taking place in her kitchen. Maya was unaware of where her parents gained the skills they possessed, she just thought they were amazing. Ren, being the leader of the Phantom Thieves, usually won their little squabbles, but today was Makoto's turn to be victorious. She stabbed Ren in the chest, causing him to grab it in fake pain. He collapsed to the floor as Maya ran to his aid.

"Maya, there is something you must know," he said while coughing, clutching his little girls shirt.

"Tell me Master Amamiya!" she giggled, having already seen that American sci-fi a bunch times despite her young age. He pulled her close and whispered in her ear.

"I, am your father" and pretended to die on the kitchen floor.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Maya tried to yell, but the giggles caught her again. Ren, realizing her acting skills had not come from her mother, grabbed her and tickled her.

"Alright, breakfast is done" Makoto smiled, tapping them both with her toy sword before placing it beneath the sink again. Ren got up and motioned his daughter to her seat at the table. She skipped happily and began too much on her breakfast. Makoto poured herself a cup of coffee and followed Ren to the living room to watch TV. He flipped it to the news to see what was going on as Makoto snuggled into his side.

_"Well it appears we have about 7 inches of snow on the ground and it will continue to fall throughout the day."_

"Well, today is our day off Makoto, why don't we take Maya to the park?" Ren asked. Makoto looked up at Ren and after pondering it for a minute, smiled and nodded her head. They turned around to see Maya smiling at them after finishing her breakfast.

Ren and Makoto went upstairs to get dressed and get Maya some warm clothes. They came back down dressed properly for a day in the cold snow. However, upon seeing the massive amount of clothes she was going to have to wear, Maya turned and ran, prompting a cat and mouse-like chase around the house. Ren eventually caught her and they forcibly pulled the warm sweater over her head. They then placed her in a pair of jeans, then snow pants. After pulling the coat over the sweater, they adorned her hands with mittens, her feet with snow boots, and a nice winter hat over her little brown pigtails.

Being fully outfitted, they made their way out to the park. When Maya stepped into the white wonderland that was her front yard, Ren and Makoto could only smile. She attempted to skip in the tall snow, only to trip and land face first in a pile of the fluffy powder. Ren and Makoto laughed when she got back up with a face full of snow. They helped her back up and each held a hand as they happily walked to the park.

The park was practically empty, aside from an blonde haired girl, her also blond husband, and their 2 year old little boy.

"Ann! Ryuji!" Ren shouted when they arrived. They let Maya go to play in the snow, and she instantly ran over to Rock, who was happily flailing snow all over the place.

Yes, Ann and Ryuji named their son _Rock_

Don't ask

"You guys had the same idea eh?" Ann smiled as the approached the Amamiya's. They nodded. Ren and Makoto began to laugh, so Ann and Ryuji turned around to find Rock and Maya attempting to build a snow man, and failing miserably.

The four parents laughed and decide to help them. Ren and Ryuji went to their children and showed them the proper way to make a snowball. Ren then helped Maya roll the bottom while Ryuji helped Rock make the middle. Ann made the top while Makoto took off to find materials to decorate it with. After the body was complete they had to wait for Makoto to return before they could finish it. Ryuji and Ren discussed things pertaining to their old days as Phantom Thieves while Ann decided to teach the two children how to make snow angels.

"Daddy look! I made a snow angel!" Maya shouted in glee. Ren turned and gasped.

"Oh no!" he cried, Ryuji laughing.

"What!" Maya gasped

"Jeez, now I have 2 angels, what am I gonna do?" he smiled. Maya jumped out of the hole she made and ran over to her fathers arms, while poor little Rock was stuck in his. She tackled him and shouted

"Silly daddy! I'm your angel!" he smiled and patted her head.

"I know sweetie. My only little Maya." He picked her up and planted a big kiss on her forehead. Ann walked over with Rock in her arms

"It's getting a bit too cold here, and he's just gotten over a fever" Ann sighed "We're gonna head home, you gonna say bye bye to Maya-chan, Rock?"

Rock shyly hid his face prompting Ann and Makoto to laugh

"Say bye to Rock, sweetie" Makoto instructed her little girl

"Bye bye!" Maya waved. Ann smiled as she, Ryuji and Rock began to head home

Ren cleared the snow off it and pushed Maya on the swing. As she flew higher and higher she began to feel the cold.

"I'm cold Daddy can we go home?" Ren and Makoto smiled and nodded. They took her hand in hand and walked back to the house.

When they arrived they quickly placed all their snow covered clothes in the bathroom to dry off and Ren made glasses of hot chocolate.

Shortly after Maya had finished her coco, she had snuggled onto her parents laps in the living room and fell asleep. Ren picked her up and they carried her to her room and tucked her into her warm covers. They both kissed her and said goodnight, smiling as they turned off the light and slowly shut the door. Ren sat back down on the couch and Makoto settled on his lap.

"Can't believe how lucky I am" Ren whispered to himself with a smile

"You and me both" Makoto smiled as she snuggled against him

* * *

_A short quick one I made since it's actually somehow snowing where I live_

_I named Ann and Ryuji's son Rock because when I thought of what a RyuAnn kid would look like, my first thought was Rock Howard from SNK_


	37. Casino Escape

_A/N- This one shot is supposed to take place during the Casino escape, as the others are escaping as Joker draws the Police's attention. It's NOT a companion piece to Chapter 17, which covered similar ground, as here Ren and Makoto are already a couple._

* * *

"For once, just believe in him, Queen." Ryuji says firmly, and Makoto feels the tears building up in her eyes. She still wants to help Ren…leaving him there with all of those guards to fight alone is too much for her heart to handle it all, but her friends are telling her to believe in him

"You're the anchor that keeps him tied down. Without you, he would have already failed. You have held his heart in his chest." Yusuke tells Makoto. He watches as a strange warm look appears on her face, with a hint of a smile.

_They know! They know I'm in love with Ren! I want to believe in Ren, but even more than that I want him to live. If he dies to save me, I'll never forgive myself_

As they flee, she ganders at her female friends, and the look on their faces, It must be hard for them. She's long suspected that all three of them are also in love with Ren.

"Ann...Futaba...Haru...I'm sorry." Makoto says, as she grabs her own arm, in order to apologize for any heartbreak that they experience because of her.

"Don't be sorry." Ann tells her in a low voice, and that lets her know that she has her friends support, even if Ren fell with Makoto instead of her. She feels a tear fall down her face which she quickly wipes away before anyone sees. "He chose you..."

Futaba tries to say something, but she can't get it out. She turns her head so they don't see the heartbroken expression on her face

"As long as you're good to him, I won't interfere..." Futaba finally manages to say under her breath. Makoto's crying so hard that she doesn't hear the last part of what she said.

"The way he looks at you...I never had a shot with him, really" Haru says, she tries to play it off as a joke, but she can tell that Haru is devastated.

"Thank you…" Makoto says, moved that they support her relationship with Ren, even though they all wish that they were the girl he loved.

"There's no need to thank me either." Haru tells her with a smile. Makoto is her best friend, she's only wanted for Makoto to be happy. If Ren makes her happy then there's no way she'll hold it against her.

Makoto feels more tears falling as she accepts the comfort that her friends are offering her right now.

"I don't want anyone to die for our sake." Makoto finally mutters to him, and Ryuji just scoffs at her.

"He doesn't want you dying for his sake either." Morgana informs her.

"Do you really think he can win…?" Makoto finally asks Ryuji, tearfully, as they eye Akechi ahead of them

"We swore on our souls to save your Sister and stop whatever it is Akechi's planning. He's been training like a madman in Mementos for this day, damn near 24/7." Ryuji replies in a firm voice, and Makoto's eyes widen at that bit of information.

"He had?!" Makoto utters in complete amazement.

"He worked…like a man obsessed to be able to obtain the power necessary in order to be able to save your Sister. He's much more powerful than he used to be." Yusuke tells her. Makoto knows this firsthand. She watched him destroy his opponents in the battle arena.

"It's insane…how much power he has. I could also easily see…just how much he loves you." Ann tells her in a low voice, and Makoto's mouth falls open a little at that. She hates how her heart seems to have started flip flopping around in her chest.

"He's special to a lot of people, his time to die isn't now. We'll put our own lives on the line to ensure that." Ryuji tells her with a comforting grin.

Ryuji looks down at her and sees the doubt in her eyes. He doesn't know what else to say to make her feel better. He remembers watching Ren train in Mementos…and Ryuji knows that if she had seen that, she would understand, exactly why Ren did what he did.

As they finally reach an exit however, a large shadow spawns before them. The thieves sigh

"Zorro!" Morgana cried as he summons the swordsman

"Believe in him" Ryuji repeats his earlier line as he summoned Captain Kidd

"Should any harm come to you, he will rip up asunder" Yusuke smirks as he summons Goemon

"Mako-chan…your life means far more to him than his own ever will. I know just how deeply he loves you, even if he never said those words to me." Haru says as he draws her axe.

"He wouldn't have gone through such hellish training if you didn't mean the world to him." Ann says, summoning Carmen

"So don't you dare die. Got it?" Futaba shouts from Necronomicon

Makoto chokes up as she bites her lip. She squeezes her wet eyes shut. The approval and support of her friends mean more to her than words can describe. He opens her eyes and glares ahead at shadow.

"That goes for all you too!" Makoto shouts as Johanna appears beneath her

_Wait for me Ren...once this is over, I'll be right there, in your arms._


	38. Aunts and Uncles Part 2

_Aunt Futaba_

"Paperwork," Futaba said, sitting the baby in the middle of her of desk, "is an excruciatingly boring chore."

She reached up and plucked a single document from the peak of a looming paper tower. "So to make things a little more interesting, we'll make origami!" She folded the paper in half. "We just fold like this, this, and then like this...until finally— walla! A paperwork swan!"

Futaba held up a graceful swan whose wings were feathered in slender black font. The baby laughed in praise.

"Cute isn't he? Although we should probably give Mr. Swan a friend," Futaba said, snatching another unsigned document. And before she knew it, she had only half a tower of paperwork and a whole flock of swans.

Meanwhile the entire time, Maya baby was absorbed in a delightful fit of bubbling squeals. She kicked, she squirmed, she played; it was great fun. Honestly, Makoto couldn't have popped out a happier child. In fact, she was so exultant that his only resemblance to his father were those glistening silver eyes (and perhaps his chin, nose, and occasional scowl too).

At some point, she kicked the remaining pile of unfolded files off the desk, creating a fluttering paper cloud that swallowed up most of the office. Futaba laughed anyways. She could clean it up later

"What is going on here?"

Her back went straight as a lightning rod. The baby stopped laughing and fell into an awestruck silence. "S-Sojiro," she stammered as her Father glanced at the papers on the floor, and then at the baby and Futaba's unusually large flock of swans. "I, uh…"

"Please tell me that's not Wakaba's research..." Sojiro grumbled

"N-No, it's mine!" Futaba gulped, she'd long since followed her mothers career path

Man, she was really going to get it this time. She could see the muscle at the corner of his brow tighten. It was one thing to neglect her paperwork, but it was entirely another to turn 'important' documents into folded art.

Sojiro folded his arms. "You're a scientist with tremendous responsibilities to your division, and you're babysitting?" It was a curt, accusing tone.

"Well, she wasn't really babysitting. It was more like, _Makoto, Ren, I'm kidnaping your daughter for the next three hours_!" Futaba tried to laugh it off. Sojiro just groaned

"We don't have time for screwing around. Clean this mess up and give them back their daughter!" Sojiro snapped

Futaba promptly turned around in her seat. "Yes, sir!"

She was not the least bit unnerved by his yelling. She was an Aunt, it was her job to take the responsibility of corrupting, spoiling, and kidnapping Makoto and Ren's bouncy baby girl.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Futaba asked as Maya made a face

"She's probably hungry" Sojiro grumbled "Just take her back already"

"You think she's old enough to eat Potato chips?" Futaba asked as she opened a bag, Sojiro's eyes widened

* * *

_Great Uncle Sojiro_

"Futaba?"

Overall, Sojiro considered himself a good person. He did his best uphold the law, he kept a watchful eye on his younger companions, and he always put their safety first. That had to count for something, right?

"Futaba!"

"S-Sojiro" she stammered, almost dropping the child. "What are you doing back so early?"

Although sometimes…

Scowling, Sojiro shot her a threatening glance. "What kind of question is that?" he demanded, then thrust a finger at the tower of neglected paperwork. "Why do you have Maya-chan?"

"Oh, well you see Makoto-"

"I honestly doubt that she asked you to babysit," he interrupted. "Especially after the last incident."

"But Sojiro-"

"Just give me the baby, Futaba."

"Why?"

"Because I'm taking her back to her parents. She's their responsibility, not ours."

Futaba tried to assure him that she could do it herself, no questions. It'll be no problem at all. Really, none at all. Yeah, right. He knew Futaba too well; she was always using the Niijima-Amamiya baby as an excuse to get out of work, especially if it involved chores or paperwork; and she would do anything to get out of paperwork. It just proved if Sojiro wanted something done on time, he would have to do it himself.

Rolling his eyes, he removed the baby from Futaba's arms. "Yeah, right," he grumbled. "You'll take too long."

Once outside, Sojiro set the baby down. She was too big, too awkward to carry very far, and she wiggled far too much. As they walked, the baby clung to his pants leg. She was an incredibly talkative little thing, almost annoyingly so. Occasionally she would tug on the black pants leg, pointing and naming trivial things.

"Gas." Maya sounded, pointing to the lawn

"It's pronounced grass." Sojiro informed her

"Geen." Maya babbled

"Green." Sojiro corrected

The child suddenly stopped, bent over, and picked up two stones of varying size. He held them up. "Wocks."

"What about them?"

The child shrugged. "They wocks." Then, as if the answer was the most obvious thing in the world, he pointed to each stone and explained, "Big wock, little wock."

"You're a curious one." Sojiro chuckled

They took a shortcut through the streets, Sojiro making sure to hold her hand as they walked, earning many looks from women who found the sight adorable. Sojiro grumbled, now everyone would think he was a Grandfather.

"Hey, you!" Maya said as she tugged at his sleeve

"Not _Hey, you_. The name's Sojiro" He grumbled

The baby pointed to his shirt. "That pink."

Sojiro felt the blood start to throb at the corner of his hairline. "It's a shirt" He felt a bit stupid explaining this to the baby.

"Shit!" Maya giggled

"No, no no!" Sojiro panicked "Shirt! _Shirt!_"

"Shirt" Maya repeated happily "Sojiwo shirt!"

"Yeah, good enough" Sojiro sighed

They veered around a sharp corner. The child bobbed her head, repeating _Sojiwo shirt_ several times, emphasizing the So and adding Jiwo with a little pop, hopping once in the air for every syllable. _So-ji-wo shirt!_

At last, they reached the Amamiya-Niijima house, and it was not long before he spotted the Niijima sisters, sipping tea on the porch. Makoto was with her, discussing this and that. Good. That would save him time.

"We've talked about having another" Makoto was saying, cheeks flushed. "But-oh, Maya-chan!" She set the cup down as the child toddled over to her. "What are you doing here? Did you run off again?"

"Futaba had her" said Sojiro.

Makoto's eyes widened and narrowed. "Again? You know, sometimes I want just to-"

"Tell me about it" Sojiro sighed.

"Now" said Sae. "I'm sure her heart is in the right place."

_Ha. That was a laugh._

"Yeah, when it isn't bent corrupting my daughter" muttered Makoto.

"And neglecting her duties." Sojiro groaned "I should be getting back."

However, as he turned to leave, the baby tugged on her mother's sleeve. "He Sojiwo, Mama" she whispered. "Sojiwo."

"Yes, I see," she replied.

"Sojiwo Shit!" Maya babbled as she pointed at Sojiro

"E-Excuse me?" Makoto gasped as Sae desperately tried to hold back a laugh

"Shirt!" Sojiro called back "No shi-...Shirt! I said shirt! Not...that other word"

"Sojiro shit!" Maya called out

Sae couldn't help it anymore and started to laugh, delighted at the baby's newfound voice, while Sojiro felt the blood start to throb at the corner of his hairline. His eyebrows scrunched together so closely that they almost touched.

"Maya-chan," said Makoto, "Don't point. It's rude." With a sigh, she stood up and announced that she would put Maya down for a nap. It was almost noon and if Maya-chan went without a sleep, she would get cranky. Perhaps they could continue the conversation later.

As they left, the child pointed out and named various mundane objects.

_"Daddy shit!"_

_"The word is shirt Maya-chan!"_

* * *

_Uncle Ryuji_

Ryuji grinned, knowing that no woman could resist the charm of a bright eyed, cheerful baby and her devilishly handsome uncle. So Ryuji did what any person would do and snatched the child out of the dirt. Then he turned and shouted to Ren, "Hey, Ren! I'm borrowing your kid for a minute!"

Kidnapping was more like it, but Ryuji wasn't going to stick around for parental protesting. He headed in the opposite direction and happened to pass through Shibuya. Balancing the baby on his shoulders, Ryuji slowed his pace. It worked until the child realized how high up she was. Feeling a sudden unease, she clutched fist-fulls of Ryuji's hair, and clung to his scalp like some scared little monkey.

"Ow, ow, ow," Ryuji cursed, trying to pry his hair out of the baby's fingers. The child squealed nervously and clung tighter. "I'm not going to drop you, just let go!"

As he pried himself free, someone behind him gasped. "Maya-chan!" cried Ann. "What are you doing here?"

Aching scalp forgotten, Ryuji straightened up. "You know," he said calmly. "We're just hanging out."

He could tell that Ann was dying to hold the baby. So he held the child out and she eagerly scooped her up, saying cheerfully, "Oh, you're so cute!" Then she whirled around to face Ryuji. "You know what this means don't you?"

_You'll go on a date with me?_

"No," he said. "What?"

"Well if you're an uncle and I'm an auntie, then that means we must spoil her rotten!"

Ryuji eagerly agreed. Every member of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts considered themselves an auntie or an uncle to Little Maya. Everyone kept an eye out for her. Everyone contributed. Everyone had something to teach, both good things and bad things. Plus, a date was a date, even when an unofficial one in which they spoiled Maya-chan rotten. Horribly, utterly rotten. And what better place to start than with a frozen treat?

"All babies love ice cream," Ann said, after ordering a ridiculously large bowl of strawberry ice cream. The tower of pink leaned uneasily to the side.

"Can she even eat all of that?" Ryuji said dubiously.

Ann handed him a spoon. She laughed. "We'll have to help her, of course."

While eating, Ryuji watched enviously as Ann spoon-fed the baby. The lucky little one didn't even know the value of being fed by a gorgeous supermodel. Ann took a spoonful, and then paused. "What do you say?"

The baby answered, "Peas?"

Ann smiled before correcting him, "Say, I love you, Auntie Ann."

"Peas?" The baby reached for the spoon.

_I could say it_, Ryuji said silently before adding, if she asked. "You're teaching him to be a kiss up," he said after the baby became fed up with the game and seized the spoon to feed herself.

Ann's eyes twinkled as she laughed and winked.

After ice cream, Ann deemed it was time for toys. They visited a local toyshop where she debated over purchasing the stuffed doggy or the dinosaur plushy. When asked for his opionion, Ryuji shrugged. "Buy them both."

Ann punched his shoulder and beamed. "Of course! We're spoiling her rotten. My, you are getting the hang of this!" As they stood in line, Ann reached over and plunked a stuffed Panda from the bin of toys.

"What's that for?"

"Makoto's gonna pretty upset when she finds out how we spoiled her daughter," she said. "We'll buy her off with this." If Ryuji had known what sort of trouble they would get into afterwards, he would have insisted upon a larger, fluffier Panda.

Then, when Ann noticed how dirty the baby was, they bought her a new shirt. One shirt turned into three shirts, which became an additional two pairs of paints, some socks, and cheap sunglasses.

But the real mischief began with lunch at a local bar.

The server offered them a glass of wine, which Ann eagerly ordered and Ryuji had a glass too. Then one glass became into two glasses. Two turned into four. Four glasses became seven. Then Futaba joined their hearty celebration and seven glasses somehow turned into an entire flask, which quickly became two and a half flasks.

Meanwhile, they poured the baby glasses and glasses of apple juice. They laughed because they knew how juice went through a baby's system, and because they knew that Makoto would have to change the diapers.

They laughed at Maya-chan's delighted smile when they fed her chocolate pie, at how she would always say peas instead of please, and they laughed at her disgusted scowl when Futaba gave her a small sip of sake.

They laughed and laughed and laughed until all three were on the floor, doubled over from the hilarity of silly details. Yes, it was irresponsible. It was immature. But god, it was so much fun.

At some point, Ryuji gave up trying to stand and laid down on the bar floor. He woke up a little later, still a bit fuzzy, and found Futaba at sprawled at his feet. Ann wasn't far away either. She had Maya-chan curled up in her arms, covered in apple juice and the remains of chocolate pie. The little girl seemed to be mocking him

Ryuji laughed at the irony. Maya-chan refused to say the words Ann wanted when Ryuji knew that she could, but all he got was poor Futaba lying at his feet. Sitting up, he glanced at the Panda perched among empty cups and flasks. They were so screwed.

And Ryuji laughed at the irony of that too.

And then Makoto walked in

"GIVE ME BACK MY _**FUCKING **_BABY!"

There was no more laughter


	39. Awkward

_"Makoto, hav you see-OH SHIT!"_

_"SIS! GET OUT!"_

It had 45 minutes since that..."exchange" and she was still there, sitting on the edge of her bed, clutching her head in the hands

Her "companion" Ren Amamiya hadn't moved an inch since that moment, remaining there like he was frozen stiff

"We're gonna have to go out there eventually" Ren finally broke the silence

"No...no, we don't" Makoto shook her head as she finally released it from her hands grasp

"What do you suggest?" Ren asked as he sat up "We just crash here forever? Maybe climb out of the window?"

"I-"

Makoto was cut off as she heard the familiar feet's impact on the ground, both teen held their breath. Makoto quickly jumped back under the covers as she was still nude. The footsteps stopped right in front of the door. It felt like the gates of hell were about to open up, but both thanked god himself as they heard the footsteps get further and further away

"We'll just...wait for her to leave" Makoto gulped, Ren rolled her eyes to response

"She's not going anywhere Makoto, and you know it" He informed her, Makoto turned her head away from him, she didn't want to admit he was right "We're gonna have to go out there and talk to her"

...

Makoto didn't respond, instead simply standing up and preparing to get dressed, Ren joined her and soon the two teens found themselves fully clothed once again

"Ready?" Ren asked, straightening out his shirt

"Nope" Makoto shook her head as she clipped her skirt back on "Back like you said, she's not going anywhere"

Ren took her hand and together they slowly pushed the door to her room open, they didn't have to walk long before they found Sae sitting on the couch, looking tramuatized with a thousand yard stare at a empty can of beer in front of her

"S-Sis..." Makoto said quietly as Sae did not react to her presence. Ren figured it was best to keep quiet and let Makoto do the talking "Sis, talk to me"

...

"I remember your first day of Kindergarten, that bright, shining, innocent smile of a 5 year old, that's what I've always seen when I looked at you" Sae said quietly after a sharp exhale "Now all I'll see when I look at you is that look when I found you on top of him..."

"Sis-"

"Thank god you were underneath the covers"

"Sis, lemme explain" Makoto interjected, Sae slowly moved her eyes to toward her

"Well?" Sae asked quietly, Makoto took a deep breath as she began her explanation

"There's no heat in my room, so me and Ren were under the covers just for warmth, and-"

"Makoto, how stupid do you think I am?!" Sae roared as she shot straight up, Ren took a step back in fear "I know what you were doing!"

"We...we...we..." Makoto stuttered, Ren sighed as he realized Makoto too terrified to talk

"Sae-san" Ren sighed

"But you!" Sae spat in pure vitriol and hatred as she pointed right at him "You motherfucker!"

"Uh-oh" Ren gulped

"How did you do it huh!?" Sae snapped at him as she began to pace towards him

"E-Excuse me?!" Ren squeaked as he stepped back

"I don't know how you did it, but I'm going to make you suffer!" She roared at him "What do you have on her?! How did you trick Makoto into sleeping with you?! I'll build a case so strong, your descendants will need lawyers!"

"Sis, that's enough!" Makoto snapped as Ren was practically cowering at his point "Ren didn't trick me into anything, I consented, he consented!"

"So that's it huh?!" Sae spat "My sister willingly allowed herself to be...defiled by the first boy who showed her any affection"

"Wha-"

"It's my fault" Sae whimpered "I should have been nicer to you, I should've taken more time off work for you, so you wouldn't have been so lonely you'd lay down with-"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Makoto screamed so hard it shook the room, Ren and Sae froze still as Makoto's fury "I'm not some kind of affection starved slut! I slept with Ren because I wanted to!"

"_You wanted to_?" Sae repeated "YOU WA-"

"Sae-san" Ren once again interjected, Makoto tried to get him to stop but Ren waved her down "Please...don't blame Makoto for anything, it was my idea too"

"What?" Sae sneered

"Ren, stop!" Makoto pleased but Ren tried to calm her down

"No Makoto, it's fine, she needs to hear this" He said softly to her before he turned to Sae once again "What we did, was a choice...a choice we made as adults"

"Oh really...?" Sae said to him after a long pause "_You're _an adult?"

"Don't answer, run, the door's right there!" Makoto pleaded to him

"Yes, we're adults" Ren said and Makoto was petrified for his life at this point

"Okay Amamiya, if you're _an adult _as you say you are, I expect you to march back to that dinky little cafe you live in and inform your caretaker of what you did tonight" Sae explained to him as she folded her arms

"Okay" Ren nodded

"Good, and I'll be there tomorrow to make sure that you have" Sae nodded back

...

"Oh come on, why would you do that?!" Ren cried

"I am not letting you get off scottfree with this!" Sae growled "If you think-"

"For gods sake, enough!" Makoto groaned "Sis, we've been going out for a while now, this was hardly our first time!"

Sae didn't respond, instead, she just stared furiously at the two teens

"Infact, this wasn't even the first time we've done it in my room!" Makoto roared, Ren was pleading with her to stop as Sae's fury only growed and growed "We're 18 and we've been going out for 6 months Sis! We're doing what two people are 18 years old have been going out for 6 months do! I have sex with Ren, deal with it!"

...

"I've...never been more depressed in my life" Sae softly quietly as she sat back down on the couch

"Sis..." Makoto muttered as she sat down next to her "We're...not going crazy, I mean, we use protection, both me and Ren, to make sure nothing..._happens_"

"Makoto, no, she could go off again at any moment" Ren pleaded

"I don't like this..." Sae said as she looked up "But I get the feeling that nothing I say or do will stop it..."

"Never" Makoto told her bluntly "Nothing you or anyone can say or do will take me away from Ren"

"Or her from me" Ren added

"Then...I suppose this is just something I'm going to have to get used to" Sae sighed, rubbing her face with both her hands "You two love each other, huh?"

"I do" Ren said without hesitation as he sat beside Makoto and grabbed her hand "I adore her, more than I ever thought possible"

"It's true, I'm sorry Sis, but I love him too" Makoto said as she squeezed his hand back "He's treated me like a Queen from the day we began to date, so don't be angry with him. I don''t care what anyone else says about him, he's the greatest man I even met"

...

"Thank you for being honest..." Sae said as she stood up "That took a lot of courage to tell me the truth like that, I guess...I just need time to adjust to this"

"Will you be okay?" Makoto asked her sister in concern

"I will be..." Sae muttered "I'll just need time to process all of this, just...don't do any of _that_ while I'm home"

"We didn't know you were home" Ren interjected before Makoto shushed him "Well we didn't..."

"I'm hungry, what's say we all go out for dinner? The three of us" Sae suggested

"Really? You want me to come along?" Ren asked in genuine shock

"Might as well get used to you being around" Sae said with a half smile as she grabbed her coat "Go and get get ready you two"

_I may not be comfortable with all the things you do, but Ren Amamiya...thank you for loving my sister as much as she loves you_


	40. Late Night Walk

_Hey, sorry, I know, updates are slowing to a crawl here, I used to be able to get 2-3 Chapter out a week, no it's two a month if I'm lucky. Sorry, real life gets in the way like the pain in the ass that it is._

_Reviews are appreciated and ShuMako is canon, don't at me_

* * *

When Makoto was walking around town, feeling uncertain about herself, she could clearly remember much lonelier days. Sad, painful, and horribly awful lonely days.

She remembers what it was like when her heart felt so empty, that she wondered if she'd ever find a reason to truly smile again. Her life has come to be defined by two acronyms in her heart. BR, Before Ren, and AR, After Ren, because of how significantly he changed her whole world.

Before Ren (BR), the reasons to smile had dwindled so much that Makoto hadn't smiled a really true smile in many years. Life became almost robotic after her parents had died. Makoto had often felt like she deserved to not have reasons to smile, since her Father's warm smile that would fill the whole household with happiness was gone. She never felt sorry for herself, and she never asked anyone to sympathize with, or for her.

Life was a chore. Waking up each day, doing the same old thing, over and over, and over again. Makoto keeps walking through the dark city, looking at the bright lights, even as she remembers the pain of her past.

Then...her third year of Shujin Academy begun. Makoto hadn't expected her whole life to take a one hundred and eighty degree turn, but that is exactly what happened...and AR all started with the a mop of black shaggy hair.

She thought he was a trouble-making boy, but he would later prove her wrong, and show that he was an admirable young man. He reacted in a very unexpected manner when she explained that her situation to him.

When he agreed to let her fight alongside them, Makoto had an aching flashback to her Father, and she could practically see him in this brainless kid, offering his help without a second thought.

Johanna offered him a way to save her family, and she took it, not only that, she nearly annihilated all enemies then and there. That's when it started. All of a sudden, physically, emotionally, and mentally, she no longer felt alone. It's pretty impossible to feel alone, when you're connected with someone else, through the power of your own Persona.

At first, she tried to act like it was a pain, but no matter what she said out loud, she was inwardly drawn to the black haired boy who had the ability to make her forget everyone and everything else around her.

Makoto was glad he wasn't involved romantically with another girl, and most of all, she was looking forward to getting to know this boy. He had impressed her a great deal the first time he killed a shadow.

Makoto found that she could read this boy even when he was trying to be a tough or cool guy. She had been shocked when he'd asked her rhetorically, if she joined the Phantom Thieves out of a sense of duty, and it seemed that deep down, he knew there was more to it all, than what she had chosen to share with him.

That was the moment she realized, that he could feel the connection too, no matter how much they both tried to act like the other was just a friend, they were both enjoying this tag team partnership, far more than either of them ever expected to.

Makoto stares up at the sky, as she keeps walking around Shibuya, and continues to contemplate hers and Ren's story.

Then, right as Makoto was realizing that she had actually fallen in love for the Ren haired teen, she was ripped away from him, locked up in Juvie.

Makoto did her best to keep Ren alive in her memories, and even went so far as to discuss him with her sister. When he had returned to LeBlanc, her heart had literally done a dance, at the sight of him. She had been surprised when he walked past her, but she knew, immediately, that he was far too emotional to address her right away. He accepts the fact that she loves him so much that sometimes, words just can't come out.

That day, when they faced the False God, was the day she realized that he loves her so much that he can't stand to see her get hurt either. So they have both saved each other, and they no longer keep track of who has saved who more times...they only love each other silently...and deeply.

Earlier today, Sae called to tell her they had to move, temperately, but still. The apartment had an electrical problem, a major one that basically required the building to be torn apart. Sae told her that they only place they could afford to rent out was deep in the countryside. The problem wasn't that school was in the way or anything, it was summer break, it was the distance, it was miles away. Her heart despaired, until Sae asked if she would like to stay with Ren,

Makoto hadn't answered right away, and that's why Ren is mad at her. She had told her Sister that she would call him back and then she informed Ren what she had been offered. Ren had looked awfully hurt for an instant, and then he'd glared at her.

"Is there someplace you would rather be, than here?" Ren had asked her, and Makoto had just stared at him, dumbfounded.

She hadn't answered Sae, because she felt like she should ask Ren what he wants, but she hadn't even been able to get that far in her explanation, because all he had to do, was hear what was offered to get mad, and get her side tracked from her original explanation.

So, instead of clarifying her point, she had gotten mad back, in response to his anger.

"Did anybody ever tell you that you're a complete and total idiot?!" Makoto had shouted at him, before she'd stormed out. He hadn't followed her, and she hasn't gone back.

It's been a couple of hours now...and she's been walking around. She remembers each and every moment she's shared with him, and she knows how their love has slowly bloomed into something rare and beautiful, a once in a lifetime kind of love.

Soul mates.

Makoto keeps walking around the city for an hour. When she walks onto a bridge, she sees Ren...just standing there. The bridge may look nothing like the one in they used to climb into Kaneshiro's Bank, but it brings back all kinds of memories, just because it's a bridge. Bridges have had that effect on her for awhile now.

She slowly walks towards him and then stops, ten or so meters, away from him. She looks at him, and once again he manages to shock the hell out of her.

"You'd better stay here with me!" Ren calls out to her, quite loudly, and then he looks at her, expectantly.

Makoto knows. She ran away from him at his house earlier, and now she has to run back to him. She has a decision to make. To walk away or to run back to him...and the look on his face is ordering her to follow her heart, to chase her dreams, and to chase him. To...make beats with her feet.

Makoto takes a deep breath and runs towards him at top speed. He has a soft and welcoming smile on his face, and Makoto is helpless to do anything other than follow her heart…straight to Ren.

When she's almost to him, he yanks his hands out of his pockets and opens his arms to her. Makoto doesn't even think about it, she flies right into his arms, and hugs him fiercely. He hugs her back with no sign of letting go, and Makoto savors it. The feel of his arms holding her is nearly magical. It's more amazing than a -dyne level spell.

"That's what I want, Ren...to stay here with you, always!" Makoto admits, in an emotional voice.

Ren doesn't talk, because he can't. His Queen has brought him nearly to tears, because he can feel her emotions as if they're his own. So Ren answers her, by pulling away and claiming her lips in a possessive, but loving kiss.

"Running away from me, is not an option...Makoto." Ren whispers, when they finally pull away.

Makoto nods as he takes her hand and they walk off the bridge to head for home. A happiness far greater than what she had ever experienced in her past is now upon her, and she's grateful to Ren for giving her all of that.

_I'll never run away from you, Ren._


	41. Proposal

_A quick one as today is April 23, Makoto's Birthday._

_Yes, I know, sadly updates on this story are practically at a snails pace at this point. I'm kinda burned out at this point and I think I need a break, so this may be the last chapter for another few weeks, possibly a month_

_Oh, and also, to the anonymous reviewer who keeps leaving reviews consisting of one word of gibberish, piss off_

* * *

It's Makoto's 23rd Birthday, and they came all the way to Ren's hometown for the occasion, Ren knows it's finally time to put a ring on her finger, he doesn't have a single regret about finally popping the questin

What he does regret is asking for his father's assistance, in how to ask Makoto to marry him, in a way she can't refuse.

He went way over the top…

Not only did his father smilingly give him a large loan, to get Makoto a beautiful engagement ring, he also paid out the ass to help Ren in his proposal.

_"Your future kids deserve to have two parents who are always madly in love. I want Makoto-chan to tell your sons and daughters this story when he gets older, with a happy smile on her face. She deserves that." _His father, Toshiyuki had said, and his words had echoed in Ren's head, quite a bit

"Yeah…she does deserve that." Ren mutters out loud.

_This was why I allowed him to go all out, but now I think it might just be too much…I bet everyone in school will be talking about this…_

Ren sighs. Makoto is getting ready to go out with him now, and by the time they return home, they should be engaged.

"If she says no…" Ren mutters nervously, even as he gulps.

_What if she really does say no!? What will I do then?_

"I finished packing your picnic basket! There is a blanket in there too." His mother, Atsuko says, as she hands it to her sor, who smiles gratefully at her.

"Thanks a lot, Mom. You don't know how much I appreciate it." Ren says, and Atsuko smiles hugely.

"I think I do." She says with a wink. Ren blushes.

"Your delicious food will definitely help." Ren says, and Atsuko winks at him.

"She can never say no to you." Atsuko says, and Ren blushes harder.

_I hope not…_

"Well then, everything should go well." Ren murmurs, and Atsuko nods her head in agreement,

"Oh it will, you'll see." She says it with so much confidence, that it actually makes Ren feel a lot better.

Then she walks into view. In a violet and blue sundress, looking absolutely stunning.

_I can't believe how much I love her…more than I even dreamed was possible_. M

"Damn Makoto…" Ren says, as he stares at her, up and down. Makoto blushes.

"I take it you like it?" She asks, and Ren just nods his head wordlessly.

"Oh I more than like it…" He says, as his eyes turn a bit lusty. Makoto lets out a nervous laugh, and Ren's hand tightens around the picnic basket, as he wonders how in the hell he's supposed to keep his hands off of her in public, when she's looking so damned fine. "You ready?" Ren asks, and Makoto nods.

"I've always wanted to have a picnic with you…" Makoto says quietly, and Ren grins.

"Well today, you get your wish." He tells her, before he grabs her hand, with his free one, and leads her to the front door.

"I can't wait." Makoto says, and Ren smirks.

"We're leaving!" Ren yells, as he opens the door, and drags her outside with him.

Makoto can't stop smiling. Ren is acting like this is such an important date

The walk doesn't take nearly as long as she would have liked it to, since walking around hand in hand with Ren, is one of her favorite hobbies. When they find a spot to sit, Ren opens the basket, and pulls out the thin blanket that Atsuko packed on top for them.

Ren's mind is on the proposal plan. He has to make sure Makoto doesn't miss what his father planned. He's sure he won't since there are other people in the park who are sure to react to it as well.

In about a half hour, it will happen…

Makoto's eyes widen at the contents of the basket. There are so many choices, and she suddenly feels like she's starved. She licks her lips in anticipation of eating, and Ren pulls out some juice boxes.

He makes sure he doesn't do anything to aggravate her while she eats. His father had been very specific, in telling him to make sure it's a date she can dream about forever. He keeps a close eye on the time, and when it's nearly time, he concentrates very closely on the sounds around him.

"I'm stuffed…that was so good! We should definitely do this again!" She says, as she sips from a juice box.

"Yeah." Ren says, and Makoto looks up into the sky. Then he hears it. He glances at her face, and she's still staring up, which is good. He waits for her to notice it. He knows, the moment she does, because she gasps loudly.

Then he smoothly moves to be on one knee, while he stares at her. He pulls the small box out of his pocket, and opens it, to present her with the engagement ring he bought with the loan his father had given to him.

"Will you?" He asks, but Makoto is still staring at the plane, which has a huge proposal banner trailing after it.

_**Makoto, will you marry me? - Ren.**_

"Wow…" Makoto says, and then she sees Ren on one knee, so she jumps to her feet, and takes two steps over to him, before she presses a big fat kiss against his lips.

"Does that mean you'll marry me then?" He asks, as a sweat drop falls down his forehead, and Makoto smiles hugely at him.

"You expected an answer other than yes?" She asks him with a smirk, and his eyes widen.

"I never know what to expect from you." Ren says honestly.

"Of course I'll marry you!" Makoto says with a smile, and Ren grabs her hand.

Makoto finally notices the ring, she'd been too awed by the plane, and by Ren being on one knee, to focus on that before now, but her eyes are wide as she stares at what's in the box.

_He really went all out, didn't he?_

The round diamond is quite large, in her estimation. It has a moderately thick silver band, and Ren grins.

"I have our names engraved on the underside." He says, showing her the ring, before he slips it onto her finger.

"It's magnificent." Makoto breathes, as the ring is slid into place.

"Just like you." Ren says, as he leans down to kiss her.

He's doing his best, to ignore the other people at the park, who are staring at the newly engaged couple, with fascination and curiosity. It seems everyone has realized that she is Makoto, and he is Ren. Then he hears a younger girl start to laugh.

"Come on." Ren says, as he quickly starts to gather up all of their things.

"Aw, so cute! You're embarrassed!" Makoto says, laughing openly at him. He tries not to scowl.

"There's only one of us that is cute in this relationship, and it's not me." He tells her firmly, and Makoto blushes.

They quickly leave the park, and head for home, and Makoto is practically floating on air, as she walks home holding her fiancé's hand. She simply cannot stop smiling.

_And one day very soon, he'll be my husband!_


	42. True Start

_Here are two chapters I wrote a while ago but didn't publish for one reason or another. I might be posting a few of these over the next few days_

_Also, I have a new Persona story out called "Sae's Night in". If you enjoy the more **adult **oriented chapters of this fic, especially Chapter 13, you might enjoy it _

* * *

Makoto Amamiya never felt more peaceful in years. As she looked out into the still-awaking sky, she sighed happily and debated on whether sleeping in or waking up her husband for breakfast. She smiled lightly as she brushed a few strands of black hair for his serene face, her fingers traced over the relaxed brows over closed eyes and then proceeded to run her hands through his dark hair and massage his scalp. The corners of his lips twitched slightly upwards but he remained asleep. His arm was securely wrapped around her waist making it impossible to actually get out of bed.

Then, her eyes softened at the tiny child in her husbands other arm. Her tiny head softly resting on her fathers shoulder while her small body cradled against Ren's arm and body. Makoto's smile just widened as she thought about when she gave birth to her daughter just a few days before Christmas. She remembered how she teared up from of happiness as she rested in Ren's arms with their daughter sleeping soundly in her arms.

_"She's so adorable…" Makoto smiled through her tears as she stared happily at the sleeping form._

_"I'm a father…" He smiled as he looked at his daughter, his head rested on Makoto's shoulder from behind as he looked down to the snoozing newborn in his wife's arms._

_She tilted her head slightly as she gently leaned back in his embrace when she suddenly thought of something._

_"What are we going to name her?"_

_Ren smiled as he looked at his sleeping boy. "How about…Maya? It means True Start. It's a good description of our lives now..." Makoto's head quickly snapped fully. Her eyes softened and another smile crept onto her lips._

_"Maya, Maya Amamiya." She nodded. Her eyes started watering and she turned around to give Ren a kiss when she felt shuffling in her arms, turning her head to the newborn, her eyes met those of the colour silver- the exact shade of Ren's._

_"Hey there, little girl…" She gently whispered, "I can already tell that you're going to be the exact replica of your Daddy." She sighed and shook her head but smiled anyway._

_"Hey! That's a good thing." He defended himself as well as Maya who was now looking back and forth at his parents with curious eyes._

_"Now I'm going to have two devils in the house, double trouble…" Ren chuckled_

_"And you're gonna love it." Makoto laughed._

Makoto smirked at the memory. She lifted a hand and gently touch Maya's head. Her hair was dark, nearly black, just like her own and naturally frizzy like Ren's. She knew she was right when she said that Maya was going to be an exact replica of her father.

She kissed Maya's forehead and felt Ren nuzzle his head more into her hair. She sighed as she pulled herself even closer to him, her head resting against his chest. Before she and Ren had met, she always had spent her nights alone in an nearly empty room in the Niijima apartment. She always woke up with goose bumps from chilly nights and not particularly looking forward to the day ahead of her.

Sshe always felt alone in the world. Now, she thought, it's different. She no longer woke up to a cold, empty room but to a loving husband and child. She smiled at how her world had world had changed ever since the day she had met Ren, his life changed too because of her and he said he was grateful for it. She was grateful too, she had always wished to have a different life and now she had it, her friends, her own family and her love for Ren and his love for her. Now a beautiful daughter, too.

She felt Ren shuffle and he groggily opened one eye, "Mornin'…" She could tell he was still sleepy by the tone of his voice

"Good Morning." She smiled at him and he leaned in to give her kiss, his hand moving up her arm and to her neck. He continued to kiss her until he blinked when he felt something tug at his hair. Noticing it wasn't Makoto, he looked up to see a pair of silver eyes looking at one of them at a time before resuming his fidgeting on his head, Maya seemed to be having fun with playing with Ren's hair and climbed up his shoulders to continue her exploration. Makoto laughed at Maya's antics while Ren tried to gently pry of the little monster before he climbed onto his head.

"Who do you think you are, baby girl?" Ren asked playfully as he laughed along with Makoto. "Trying to climb on my head like that!"

Maya squealed happily as she was lifted high up into the air by his father who was still lazily holding her up from lying position. The little girl's eyes lit up as he laughed when Ren started moving her around in the air. She tried to reach out to Ren but his efforts were futile as she was too high up so he continued to laugh loudly and shriek in delight. Makoto laughed louder when Ren started making funny faces at their daughtet and stick his tongue out at her.

She felt content just as things were and lay her head on Ren's shoulder. She closed her eyes and listened to the noise father and daughter were making. She had never felt more grateful for her life as she did now. She snuggled herself more into the crook of Ren's shoulder for a few more minutes before she looked up at her daughter in the air, her eyes closed happily as she kept on laughing and she soon found herself making faces along with Ren only to fuel Maya's amusement.

About ten minutes later, the noise had died down and Maya started her journey attempting many ways of trying to get off the bed while her parent's watched him with much amusement.

"You think she'll accomplish her mission?" Ren watched curiously as Maya tried yet another method and kept a close eye on her so that he wouldn't hurt herself.

Makoto smiled at his expression, he didn't scowl much anymore, maybe it was because of being more mature. He looked so much different than he did before but certainly not worse… She turned her head towards Maya's direction at the other side of the bed and smiled at her determined face, so much like her fathers. "She definitely won't give up since you are her father, stubborn to no end." She grinned lightly.

"And you love it." He smirked at her when she shook her head. "What time is it?"

"Nearly quarter to seven."

"…"

"What?"

She never received an answer as Ren flipped himself onto his side and closed his eyes, tucking his ruffled head into the pillow and pulling up the cover with his other arm. Makoto wouldn't have any of it and slapped him in the side of his head. "Get up." He groaned in protest.

"Too…early…"

"You were just fine minutes ago!" She hit him again, only harder. He finally gave and turned around to glare at her only to have her glare right back at him. Moments pasted and he was the first to look away. Grumbling, he pulled himself up into sitting position and watched as Makoto got off the bed and headed towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"To make breakfast of course." She rolled her eyes and him and he in return glared at her. She made a face at him before making her way to the kitchen and opening the window to let a small breeze refresh the house. She tied the robe tighter before she started making the first meal of the day. Ren came shortly after with a smiling Maya on his shoulders and set her down in hsd chair and walked over to where Makoto was cooking. She felt him wrap his arms around her while she continued to watch the frying pan.

"Smells good." He said before leaning back to let her turn around. She gave him a quick kiss before turning back around.

"You know I'm a good cook." She smugly replied. Ren hobbled over to the table where Maya was giggling at the display of affection between Ren and Makoto while clapping his hands. "Are you busy today?" Asked Makoto as she came over to the table with the family's breakfast.

"Not really. Why?"

"I was thinking that we could visit everyone, to show Maya. Do think we could go?"

He looked at her briefly for a moment, "I can arrange something…" He smiled. Makoto smiled back. It was the times like these that were her favourite, even if it was breakfast. Having a real family, friends and people who cared. She watched as Ren started giving Maya a lecture about 'rejected opinions' while the small child blinked, grinned from ear to ear and tried to climb out of her seat. Makoto gave out a laugh, catching Ren's attention. He smiled at her and she smiled back.

"You're an idiot but I love you for it." She chuckled.

"Geez, nice way to show your love. I love you, too."

Yes, Makoto Amamiya loved her life, husband and child and wouldn't want to have it any other way.


	43. Massage

"You're getting stronger Queen" Ren stated as he dodged Makoto's blow, darting around the empty floor of Mementos

"Yeah but I still can't keep up with you" Makoto huffed. She was bruised and exhausted from the 45 minutes they have been going at it, neither faltering. Her relationship with Ren did nothing to help her further understand his combat abilities

"Wanna call it a day?" asked a smirking Ren.

"Okay." Makoto sighed in exhaustion as she lowered his fists "Oh, and Ren?"

"Hmm?"

"Next time don't take it easy on me" She glared at him, he avoided her gaze in shame

"Sorry." He said, genuinely remorseful. Makoto chuckled in response before yelping and grabbing her shoulder

"What's wrong?" Ren questioned as he ran over

"It's fine" Makoto waved him off "My shoulder's just been acting up for a while now, I think I may've pulled something"

Ren looked at her, she was clearly in pain. He pondered what he could do to help.

"Well, tell you what, to make up for today, I'll give you a massage" insisted a grinning Ren. Makoto's eyes widened in response. She looked at his expression and slowly nodded

"Oh ummm ok, my apartment is closer, we can go there, if that's okay" stammered Makoto.

The two made their way to the exit of Mementos. Thankfully, the trains weren't busy so it was only a matter of moments until they arrived at the Niijima household

"I'm going to the bathroom; you can wait for me in my bedroom." Makoto informed him

"Okay" answered Ren as he did just that.

...

"Massage, huh?" Makoto giggled as she closed the door. She took a moment to find a towel, a _small _towel

Ren opened the door to Makoto's room and planted himself down on the bed, observing the room while trying to avoid the Buchimaru-kun plushies

_"It's like they're staring at me"_

Ren settled on staring out the window until Makoto came in, which thankfully didn't take long

"Ready?" she asked

He turned around and his jaw dropping as he saw Makoto standing in the doorway. There she stood, the woman who captured his heart, in nothing but a towel that _JUST_ managed to cover the essentials. Makoto noticed his expression and just smiled mischievously.

"Well you couldn't give me a proper massage with all those clothes in the way" Makoto said in a mocking tone.

Ren's heart was racing and his throat was so dry he couldn't mutter a word as she lay on her stomach on her bed. In this position the bed hid her breasts so she threw the towel down the cover her lower body. Ren just stood there gazing at her flawless features, frozen where he stood.

"You gonna just stare or give me a massage?" taunted Makoto.

With a simple nod he stumbled over to the bed and stood above her. Slightly bending down he gripped her shoulder muscles and started rubbing and squeezing gently. His motions were firm but gentle and very relaxing. Makoto was oblivious to the fact that his hands were rough and calloused; he glided so smoothly across her milky skin she nearly melted from the touch.

"Oohh…that feels so good Ren, where did you learn how to that?" Makoto questioned. Ren figured it was best he didn't answer and expose his teachers secret career "Could you move down some?"

He responded by sliding his hands down her back, kneading and rubbing his way down.

"Lower…"groaned Makoto. Ren immediately froze and broke into a nervous sweat. "Now Ren" snapped Makoto with a devious grin.

"Any lower and I'll have to...take off the towel" Ren gulped "Otherwise you wouldn't be able to feel anything..."

Makoto slowly twisted her head to gaze at him, his nervous expression was so cute, and she met it with the smuggest grin she could muster

"Take it off then"

Almost like a servent desperate to obey his master. He grabbed the towel and tossed it off so far he quickly checked he hadn't accidentally tossed it out the window. There it was, Makoto's soft but firm supple cheeks, that butt that he loved so much that he wanted to fluff it up and use it as pillow.

_"God, you are killing me here Makoto"_

"Are you just going to stare or are you going to rub me?" Makoto questioned and Ren was damn near having a heart attack at this point

"As you wish, Queen" Ren complied to the demand and he softly squeezed her ass which earned a soft moan from the brunette below him.

Makoto moaned softly as Ren kneeded her buttocks like dough. Squeezing and rubbing those firm buttocks, he didn't want to let them out of his hands for a second. He stretched then open slightly, to peer at the two holes that were hidden from his view. Makoto shuddered as she just feel Ren's eyes peering at the most private areas, gulping as she felt that he could stick his fingers of even his tongue in there at any second.

She felt her wetness drip onto the bed as Ren's palms seemed to drift closer and closer to her womanhood every second. Her toes curled as Ren's thumbs came within millimeters of brushing her anus.

Makoto couldn't handle his touches any longer, she wanted more; and noticing the bulge in Rens pants she figured he agreed. He was defenseless as Makoto whipped around grabbing his wrists and threw him onto the bed, straddling his waist.

He swore his heart stopped as she sat above him, fully naked revealing her creamy ivory skin, plump round breasts, a toned yet feminine abdomen, leading to a full bubble butt, resulting in perfect curves- he could go on and on about how beautiful she was but no word would truly capture the beauty he saw in her.

Without a word Makoto leaned down and attacked his lips with her own, seizing the opportunity as Ren gasped to enter his mouth with her tongue. He immediately responded as she explored his wet cavern, rubbing his tongue against hers, soon fighting for dominance. Their passionate and lust-filled kiss was broken as they separated for air, each panting. Makoto then ripped off his jacket and shirt to reveal his muscular upper body.

"You're so sexy, Joker" teased Makoto as she lazily trailed her fingers across his chest, feeling his soft well-tanned skin, memorizing all of his muscular grooves.

"M-Makoto, your sister could be back at any moment" said Ren half-heatedly. Makoto was beaming at him

"Shut up and enjoy it, I know I will." She then attacked him with another kiss, but this time he responded with more vigor than before.

All of the innocence seemed to leave Ren as he flipped them over breaking their kiss to trail down her neck, gently sucking and licking down the side, placing little love bites here and there. Her soft moans encouraged him to keep going; he moved down to her breasts and grabbed one in his hand, rolling the nipple between his thumb and index finger, while sucking on the other. The scent of her arousal and increased moans caused him to get harder as his movements became rougher.

Detaching himself from her breasts he licked down her belly trailing kisses along the way, causing Makoto to tremble as he reached her opening. The heat from his breath as he inhaled her scent drove her crazy. She grabbed his head with both hands and shoved him into her pussy.

Recovering from the shock Ren started slowly tasting her and soon devouring her, unable to get enough. Hearing her moans made him want more. Reaching his hand up he slowly inserted one finger, then two, while his still used his tongue to play with her clit. His slow movements highly frustrated her.

"F-f-faster Da-dammit!"Makoto hissed out in between moans. Not wanting to disappoint, he obeyed, thrusting his fingers in and out faster. After a few more minutes Makoto felt her climax approaching.

"Oh-oh g-god R-Reeeeeeeennnnn, I-I'm gonna-!" Managed Makoto through her moans. Hearing this only made Ren go faster, he wanted her to come for him. Soon she released her juices, covering Ren's hand and mouth. He greedily licked all she had to offer him, loving her bitter-sweet taste.

Recovering from her orgasm Makoto grabbed Ren and threw him on the bed ripping his pants and boxers off, exposing his erect member. They'd done it a few times before, but never with this much ferocity. She then grabbed his hardness as he gasped from the touch. Slowly she moved her hands up and down his shaft, making Ren plead for more before taking in as much of it as she could.

Ren was having much difficulty restraining himself from bucking his hips to increase the pressure on his pulsating member as the warmth of her hand covered him. As Rens moans increased so did her speed.

"M-Makoto I-I'm gonna cum!" he warned her. Her motions didn't stop and soon he exploded over her. Ren lay there panting, exhausted from his orgasm.

"Aww, not tired are we?" Makoto teased as she traced the lines from his muscles again.

"Heh, you wish." Chuckled Ren as he became hard again, flipping them over so he was on top. Positioned in between her legs, the tip of his member brushed against her opening causing them both to tremble from the feeling. Before Ren could ask permission, Makoto grabbed his dick and thrust it in her.

Although she rid of her hymen through their first time, it still pinched, and after she adjusted to his size she ordered him to continue. Each thrust was filled with agonizing pleasure causing Makoto to arch her back and throw back her head. Her moans were music to his ears as he went faster. Gripping the bed sheets Makoto could feel her walls tightening, needing more she began to meet his thrusts with her own.

Feeling her tighten around him almost drove him over the edge but he was trying to make this blissful moment last as long as he could. Makoto's moans and screams filled the room as they both came together, yelling each other's name before collapsing on the bed. Pulling himself out, Ren lay down and Makoto rested her head on his chest.

"You should give me massages more often." Whispered Makoto as Ren chuckled.

"Give me five minutes and I will" He smiled at her


	44. Sae's Thanks

It's the Fireworks Festival once again in Shibuya, Ren and Makoto decide to attend for the third year in a row, the second time as a couple. Sae accompanied them, both sisters adorned in beautiful kimono's as they, along with Ren, witnessed the fireworks light up the sky.

Now in their 20's, Ren and Makoto decided to partake in the celebrations, toasting with sake along with Sae, which is what led to this moment right now;

"I've don't think I've even seen Makoto drunk!" Ren gulps at his girlfriend, who had quite a bit to drink, but she is holding herself up admirably, mostly because her arm is slung over Ren's shoulders.

"I luuuuuvvv yoouuuuuu!" Makoto happily slurs out, attempting to kiss him on the cheek but is so out of it that all she does is shove her nose into his ear, and Sae laughs.

"Why don't we take a break?" Sae suggests and Ren is happy to comply. They find a bench and the three sit down. Almost the instant they do, Makoto's head slopes onto Ren's shoulder and snoring loudly

"She's seriously out just like that?!" Ren squeaked, Sae laughed once again before she looked directly at Ren

"Did Makoto ever tell you what I said to her just after she started high school, Ren-kun?" Sae asks, and Ren shakes his head.

"No, why?" Ren asks testily.

Sae smirks before he glances at Makoto, who is smiling softly in her sleep. She looks back at Ren.

"I told her that if she met a nice boy, to bring him home and introduce him to me so I could judge him!" Sae snipes and Ren gulps loudly

"I think you're a bit past judging me" Ren musters up the courage to say "You literally interogated me once"

Sae smirks at his responce before shrugging with a small chuckle

"You're right, I judged you a long time ago...but after everything you did, I knew you were worthy of Makoto." Sae says sincerely to him, looking directly into his eyes "You've been at her side all this time and never ever thought of leaving it for a second. You never dragged her down, you helped her reach new heights"

Sae looked sadly down at her feet, closing her eyes and she sulked

"You helped her more than I ever did..."

"Hey..." Ren tries to comfort her, but Sae waves it off as she looks back at him

"Now, a few years later…and you two are completely in love." Sae smiled happily "Maybe by this time next year, you'll be married and I'll be expecting my first niece or nephew." Sae says, and Ren sputters.

"I wouldn't go that far! We're still young" Ren coughs, but Sae is smiling broadly.

"You do know, Ren-kun…that you are the only guy she's ever shown in any interest in, don't you? In fact…the only person she ever shown affection to was when she was 5 and told me she wanted to marry Buchimaru-kun when she grew up." Sae says, and Ren has a look of horror on his face.

_That damn Panda!_

"Really?" He asks smiling, since Sae brought up the idea of them being married. Little did she know that Ren had practically been waiting to propose to Makoto since around a week after he met her.

"Honestly, I've long accepted that I won't marry or have children" Sae's whisper is soft but that doesn't stop Ren from feeling sorry for her. "But until she met you, I was beginning to worry that Makoto wouldn't either...I chose my way, but she deserved her happiness, she didn't deserve to not have a life after our father died, and honestly, I don't think she ever would have, unless she met you"

Ren doesn't know how to respond to all of this, so he sits there, taking in every last word. He moves his eyes and looks at Makoto's smiling face, happily on his shoulder

"I'd give her the whole world if I could" Ren declared and Sae smiles at that

"You can stay at our house tonight if you want to." Sae says innocently which makes Ren almost cough.

"He accepts." Makoto slurs out as she wraps his her arms around his, and Ren fights the urge to chuckle.

"I'd like to allow you to stay in there all of the time, but I'd actually like to be able to sleep at night without all that noise." Sae says, and Ren coughs loudly, he figures she must have a decent amount of alcohol in her for her to say that so casually.

"That's very conscientious of you." Makoto says, and Ren can't help but to snort at that comment.

"I have always been conscientious!" Sae insists, and Makoto snorts.

"Is that why you called me useless?" She asks in a snotty tone, and Sae chuckles nervously as she scratches her head.

"Of course you have to focus on that." She says, and Makoto scoffs again.

"You're the one who brought it up." Makoto says with a frown, and Ren rolls his eyes at her.

"Alright, drop it, it's in the past." He says in frustration, and Sae laughs.

"Why do I even try." Makoto slurs as she begins to nod off once again

"Come on you, time to go home" Ren says as he gets them to their feet. The three begin to head towards the train station

He slows down a lot and lets Sae get further ahead of him. Makoto stays in step with his Sae though, and Ren just thinks about how it will be with her in her bed tonight.

They get on the train and once again, Makoto is out like a light. Sae lets out a big sigh.

"She held out longer than I thought she would." Sae says, and Ren gives her a questioning look.

"Sorry?" He asks, and Sae smiles at her before glancing back to be sure Makoto hasn't woke up.

"I didn't get to finish what I was trying to say because she kept waking up, but now we have some privacy, there's something I want to say to you, Ren-kun." Sae says, and Ren is fairly shocked.

"What is it?" He asks, and Sae gives her a huge smile.

"Thank you Ren-kun. For coming into my sister's life, for changing her world, and for being her future husband." Sae says, and Ren blushes.

"You don't have to thank me." He says in a low voice but Sae shakes his head.

"I do…she was very miserable before you came along. I am very thankful to you, for bringing light back into my sister's eyes. Light that was missing for too many years." Sae says, and Ren smiles shyly up at her.

"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." Ren admits. "Makoto's life wasn't the only one profoundly changed with our meeting…mine was too."

"I'm glad to hear that" Sae smiles with a nod

...

...

...

"You...uh...don't have a brother do you?" Sae asks, averting her gave and twiddling her hair "Older? By maybe 6-7 years? Around my age?"

"No..." Ren shook his head "I don't have any siblings"

"Damn..." Sae cursed


	45. White Day

_This is a sequel to Chapter 18, "Valentine's Day"_

_Also, holy crap, I didn't even realize this story is a year old, wow_

_Also also, I'm now on Reddit, my username there is also ZeromusTrueSelf_

* * *

Makoto hasn't been able to stop thinking about White Day ever since she celebrated Valentine's Day with Ren last year. They were unable to celebrate White Day last year since Ren had to return to his hometown but now he's returned to Shibuya and she has him all to herself.

She fondly remembers how other girls tried to give him chocolate and how Ren only accepted hers. She also has experienced a whole new feeling, and that is the feeling of having Ren close by.

The feelings she's been experiencing shock her, since she's always loved him, but even now, she has the thought in the back of her head that she can't wait until the next time she's in his arms.

The feeling is encompassing, it bothers her that she feels so attached, and that she can't make the feelings subside at all, but it's comforting that Ren seems to be affected by her in the exact same way.

He completely returns the yearning and desire to be close to her that she feels for him, so she's started to accept that her love is just that strong for him, even if she does wish she could get the handsome black haired boy out of her mind from time to time.

They discovered over the course of the year that Makoto has quite a sweet tooth an so Ren went out of his way to buy Makoto all kinds of new sweets that she's had yet to try, even with all of the time she's spent with him. He wanted to make sure that he gave her more sweets than any of the other girls in their class would get, simply because he's sure his feelings for her outdo any of his classmates feelings for any of the other girls.

He made sure he got her a box of chocolate bunnies, he also got her gummy worms, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate covered espresso beans, peanut brittle, and her favorite, chocolate covered strawberries. He's certain Makoto will be ecstatic when she sees how much he's spoiled her.

No matter how much he eyes all of the sweets he bought her though, it doesn't really seem to express the depths of his feelings for her, which irks him quite a bit, since he'd felt Makoto's love with the cake she'd made for him on Valentine's Day. No matter how much he assures himself that he's done enough, he doesn't feel it in his heart that he has, since candy and sweets could never possibly express the depths of his feelings for her.

For Ren it's been like a happy dream, ever since things began changing between them, the world seems brighter, and he's been smiling more…Makoto is always around, and that makes him even happier.

It will be worth it to see her beautiful smile.

He can't help but grin when he imagines her reaction to the sheer volume of candy that he actually got for her.

_It's still not enough. What can I do?_

Sojiro has been smirking a lot, and giving Ren speculative glances, but Ren has been doing his best to ignore his annoying father-figure, since the man always finds new ways of irritating him.

Sojiro knows the boy will be busy today, and as a result, invited Makoto over to LeBlanc for breakfast. Makoto walks in the room wearing a new white dress with black trim, and Ren's eyes pop out of his head.

"You know…I wanted to make sure I reminded you that it's White Day." Makoto tells him, and Ren smirks at her.

"You really think I forgot that?" He asks, and Makoto breaks out into a big smile.

"I'm happy to hear that you didn't." Makoto smiles harder.

"I'll be giving you your gift after we eat breakfast." Ren tells her, and Makoto's eyes brighten up.

"I'll just clean up!" Makoto says, and she practically skips off to the bathroom with Ren rolling his eyes after her.

_Control yourself, you can take that dress off later_

Sojiro slides over to her and gives Ren a questioning glance, but Ren is so into his own thoughts that he doesn't notice him staring at him with a contemplative look on his face.

"Ren!" Sojiro says, and Ren nearly jumps out of his own skin

"What?!" Ren snaps, annoyed that he interrupted his thoughts of removing Makoto from her cute little dress.

"I just...got something I need to say to you" Sojiro informs him "Something that needs saying, is all"

"Al...right?" Ren mutters with a raised eyebrow "What is it?"

"Look...I, uh...I had a lousy childhood" Sojiro grumbled, rubbing the back of his head "Lousy Father, lousy Mother, lousy school, lousy friends, I hit 30 and figured I'd never have kids, hell, didn't want any...then I met Wakaba...and then Futaba and you fell into my life"

"Sojiro, you don't have to-" Ren tries to stop him since he can tell this is not an easy conversation for Sojiro to have, but Sojiro waves him off and continues on

"I do...I do...I have made a _lot _of mistakes in my life kid, a _lot_ I waited too long for Wakaba, and when she needed me, I wasn't there, and because of that I lost her forever. Now I know you're not as foolish as me to let Niijima-san slip out of your grip...but I thought I should tell you…there's something I want you to have" Sojiro says as he reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small box, Ren's eyes open wide as he opens it and presents him with a silver ring

"Sojiro...you..." Ren gulps as he looks at him, straight in the eyes "You're...proposing to me?"

"Stop..." Sojiro glares "Stop being a wise-ass, just for a minute"

Ren doesn't respond, instead he merely looks at the ring, it needs a bit of a polish but it's in good condition, he gazes on the inside and see's the inscription

_My one and only true love._

"How long have you been carrying around?" Ren asks quietly, not taking his eyes of the silver band

"About a month after I met Wakaba..." Sojiro says and that's all Ren needs or wants to know. "Never got around to using it..."

He holds out his hand further, prompting Ren to take the ring, he examines it, running his fingers over the texture.

"I already proposed, last year" Ren admits, look up to Sojiro "She said yes"

"Well good, that's half the work done" Sojiro chuckles "I don't see a ring on her finger though...so feel free to use that one"

Ren doesn't reply, instead he just once again runs his thumb over the ring

"Here's the thing kid" Sojiro begins as he leans on the counter "We don't control the hands we get dealt, we decide what to do with them, sometimes you play it safe, sometime you got no choice but to fold..."

The bathroom door creaks as the bathroom door opens and Ren's eyesight is once again occupied by Makoto's beauty. As he gazes as her, Sojiro smiles and pats him on the shoulder

"And sometime's you just say _what the hell _and go all in" His caretaker smiles

Makoto can't help but wonder what kind of treat he'll be giving her after breakfast. She hopes whatever it is, that it's half as good as some of the things she's already had the pleasure of tasting so far.

She shoots him a smile, knowing she won't let him last five minutes after breakfast without forcing him to hand over whatever it is he got her, because she has a taste for something sweet.

Breakfast passes by fairly slowly, but Makoto enjoys each bite of breakfast, because Sojiro has a habit of outdoing himself for each meal.

"This is delicious!" Makoto says, as she begins to working on polishing off what has been put in front of her.

_I've noticed my appetite growing, maybe I'm burning more calories?_

After breakfast, Ren and Makoto excuse themselves to his room. Sojiro isn't dumb so he excuses himself to get some cigarettes, the good kind, from the supermarket 20 minute down the road

Makoto sits on his bed with her arms crossed. It doesn't take Ren very long to join her, and when he carries in the huge basket of sweets that he had hidden from her, he watches her eyes nearly pop out of her head.

"Ren!" Makoto exclaims with bulging eyes, as she stares at the sheer volume of candy he's presenting her with.

"This isn't everything." Ren tells her in a serious voice, and Makoto forces her eyes away from the candy to his face when she hears his tone of voice.

"There's more?" Her voice is practically a squeak.

_Here goes…_

"This." Ren says, before he sets the basket down reaches into his pocket to pull out the ring.

Makoto gasps when she sees it, and her hand goes over her mouth. She'd been expecting candy, though not so much, but she definitely hadn't expected anything as magnificent as this.

"Ren!" Makoto finally breathes, and he smiles as he points at the inscription.

"Nothing could describe my feelings better than this." He says, and Makoto reads the inscription.

She didn't expect tears to well up in her eyes, but Ren takes her hand, and slides the ring down her ring finger. Immediately after, Makoto pulls him in for a hug, the candy temporarily forgotten.

"I was wondering when you would finally put the ring on my finger." She assures him, and she feels him squeeze her a bit tighter, not that she minds that one bit.

"It's a bit sooner than we figured, but why not now?" Ren tells her.

"I'm amazed you did so much." Makoto tells him, and he pulls away to give her a hot smile.

"Don't you want to dig in?" He asks, and Makoto's eyes widen.

"Definitely!"

...

"Uh you gonna eat?" Ren asks as Makoto is ignoring the basket of sweets

"Oh...when I said dig in..." Makoto smirks, running her finger across his chest "I wasn't talking about the sweets"

"What!?" He finally asks, sure he heard her wrong, but when she lands on him, he takes a step backwards, and then falls back against the bed with her.

"I really want you more than I can even explain." She tells him, just before she kisses him, and he willingly allows her to turn his senses inside out as she presses her body against his, and runs her hands over his arms and then his legs.

"I want you too…" Ren admits. He isn't even able to hold that thought for very long though, because Makoto's hand slides over the one part of his body that has the ability to make his mind go in one direction only.

"I want to be one with you." Makoto mutters before she kisses him, and Ren returns her fervor, even as his body is silently cheering at this sudden turn of events. He begins to work Makoto's dress up higher and higher, until he's able to slip his hands up and over her breasts, which makes her body tremble a bit in his arms.

"You're amazing." Ren says in a breathy voice in between kisses, and she responds by slipping her hand into his pants to stroke his manhood.

He groans as her fingers slide over the head of his arousal, making him feel like he's getting even harder, just from the lightness of her touch.

_Her hands are so soft!_

It feels much nicer to have her hands closing over him than it does to have his own. It doesn't take much of that for him to feel like he's about to release in her hands, so he forces her hands away so that he can get a hold of himself, without finishing off before they even really get started.

"I want you out of this dress." Ren tells her, and Makoto looks a bit shaky as she turns to give him access to the zipper on the back. Ren quickly yanks the zipper down, and then tugs at the shoulders of the material to expose her chest and belly.

He can hardly believe how beautiful and perfect her skin is. He's so busy staring at her, that he doesn't notice that she's unbuttoned and unzipped his pants.

"I'm not the only one who will be losing clothing here." Makoto tells him, grabbing his attention, and Ren blushes since it's obvious he's got a throbbing erection.

He yanks his pants and boxers down, while Makoto slides the dress the rest of the way down her waist, revealing silky looking white panties with a pink blue stripe down the middle of them. Ren gets his shirt off as fast as possible, and then he swallows nervously as she pulls down her panties.

_How can she be so perfect!?_

"I'd die for you…" Ren whispers against her ear, in between kisses, and Makoto sighs at that.

"I love you too," Makoto tells him after he kisses her again, and Ren's face gets the most sweet look that she's ever seen it get since she's known him.

"I want you to feel good." Ren tells her in a low voice, and Makoto blushes.

"I do…I feel better than good." Makoto tells him and Ren leans back down to kiss her. Makoto feels him his fingers inside her, and she lets out sound that sounds half like a sigh, and half like a squeal.

"I like it when you do that," Ren tells her and he kisses her again as his fingers start to make her legs start to shake from the intense rush of feelings overtaking her entire body.

"Ren…" Makoto murmurs, with a glazed over look in her eyes. Ren feels himself coming undone.

Makoto can hardly keep up with everything happen, due to the way her body reacted from his fingers being in her most intimate place. He leans down and kisses her left nipple which immediately hardens as his tongue flicks at it. Makoto starts to make little noises again, and Ren finds himself on top of her, without even consciously doing so.

"I want you…" Ren tells her in an aching voice, and Makoto gives him a look of love when he says it.

"I want you too." Makoto tells him, and Ren can't help but to moan loudly at the touch of his fun parts against hers. Ren gives her a look of concern.

"It shouldn't hurt this time." Ren whispers to her, and Makoto nods, even though she doesn't believe him until he pushes inside of her.

"The throbbing is starting to go away," Makoto tells him in a tiny voice, after several moments.

"I really do love you, Makoto." Ren tells her fervently, and Makoto puts her arms around him.

"I know you do." Makoto tells him with a small smile. Ren slowly starts to move, to see if she protests it at all, but she doesn't, instead, she lets out a little sigh.

Makoto can hardly believe that last time, she felt such a huge flash of pain in her body, because she feels really good now, as she experiences the ultimate pinnacle of closeness with him.

Ren grits his teeth and concentrates on not ruining things by finishing prematurely, but when Makoto starts to let out little moans with each push he makes, he can't stop it anymore. He grabs Makoto's hand and squeezes it, when he feels it coming on, and she squeezes his hand back.

"Makoto…" Ren lets out a long moan after he says her name, and Makoto watches his face as he experiences the most pleasure he's ever experienced in his life.

He's quite positive that it's a bad idea to let her know that she'll have him wrapped around her finger for the rest of his life…too bad for him, she can see it written all over his face. Ren leans down to kiss her again, and Makoto responds lovingly, and squeezes his hand again.

"I think I found a new hobby," Makoto tells him with a smile, and Ren smiles warmly at her.

"Thank you…for everything." Ren tells her wholeheartedly. This is the girl who is solely responsible for him being alive, and he's never felt more alive than he has tonight.

"You don't have to thank me, you just have to love me." Makoto informs him, and Ren lets out a shaky sigh as he pulls out of her and kisses her again.

"You know I do…and I'll never stop." Ren tells her firmly.

Afterwards, Makoto feels like she can feel her heart beating throughout her entire body, as though her body is in shock from the experience she just had. Seeing the basket of candy instantly cheers her up, and when Ren rolls off of her, she hurries to get her dress back on, and she straightens her hair. She goes for a chocolate rabbit, and then she grabs her panties to hurry for the bathroom.

Ren is dressed and laying on the bed with a thoughtful look on his face when Makoto comes back, and she parks herself in front of the candy, with the intent of trying a little bit of everything.

"I love you Makoto." Ren tells her, and Makoto just grins at him.

"I love you too, but keep your mouth shut while I enjoy my candy." Makoto orders him, before she turns back to the candy with a spark in her eyes.

"What?" Ren snaps at her, and Makoto licks her lips.

"I am going to destroy you." It appears she's lost her mind and is talking to her candy.

Ren just smiles and shakes his head.

_Happy White Day, Makoto._


	46. Do You Want

_Warning: This one deals with a bit of heavy subject matter_

* * *

A simple trip to the Takemi clinic was all this was supposed to be, Ren was going to pick up supplies, Makoto was coming along too to get a nagging injury examined.

They walk along in silence for awhile, until they hear a woman bawling. They both look around for the source, and finally see the woman dashing out of the clinic.

She sobbing and covering her face, Ren and Makoto have to step out of the way to avoid being bowled over, they watch as the woman disappears from view

"What was that about...?" Makoto asks in a soft voice. Ren doesn't want to say, but he noticed the woman was pregnant and her running out of doctors office crying can't be a good sign

"Takemi-san?" Ren questions as they finally enter the clinic, finding the doctor rubbing her temples

"No experiments today guinea pig" Takemi groans

"Uhhh...not here for that" Ren gulps, he's thankful that Makoto didn't seem to catch on "What...was that about?"

Takemi gives the teens a regretful look before sighing and admitting the truth

"She didn't want to go to a hospital, her dad's a doctor or something like that" Takemi groaned "She wanted me to perform a procedure on her...I refused"

"A procedure?" Makoto questions. Tae clearly doesn't want to explain anymore but it looks like she's going to have to

"An abortion" Tae admits "She wanted me to perform an abortion"

Tae starts to hiccup and both Ren and Makoto can feel a pull at their hearts as they stare at her.

"Christ..." Ren whispers

"Why did she..." Makoto trails off

"How should I know?" Tae groans in an annoyed tone "I just told her I didn't have the equipment to perform one, _which I don't_, so if that's why you two are here, you're shit outta luck"

Ren and Makoto freeze in shock at Tae's comments.

"We're...not..." Ren tries to get out but that's all he can manage

"What is it then?" Tae eggs on "Condoms?"

"No!" Makoto gulps "I-I-I just came here to get my ankle looked at!"

"Fine, get on the table in the room" Tae sighs once again as Makoto hobbles into the doctors office. Now alone, Ren just stands there

"I need...medicine too" Ren meekly says to no one.

* * *

Ren watches as Makoto continues to walk along as though nothing just happened. Ren has to hurry after a moment since it doesn't appear as though she's going to wait for him. Makoto sighs again. She's always wondered what it would be like to be pregnant.

Suddenly she finds herself imagining what having a child would be like, and she blushes when she pictures her first child having dark black hair.

"A child with Ren?" Makoto says extremely softly, under her breath. Ren had heard her voice as he fell in step next to her, and he heard his name, but he didn't catch the entire sentence.

"What?" Ren asks her with a raised eyebrow. Makoto's head jerks to look at him, and she turns bright red.

"Nothing." Makoto mutters at him before she looks forward again.

"I heard you say my name." Ren presses, and Makoto shakes her head at him.

"It's nothing." Makoto tells Ren before she quickens her step. Ren gives her a look of confusion, but he lets it go.

"Think she'll keep her baby?" Ren asks her curiously, causing Makoto to give him a confused look.

"That's...I have no idea." Makoto answers in a firm voice.

"I suppose you're right, sorry for asking such a strange question." Ren finally says quietly. "I...hope she does. It seemed pretty important to her." Ren says as he shoves the hand that isn't holding his bag into his pocket.

"I hope so too. It..." Makoto tells him as she adjusts her bag in her hands.

Ren's mind wanders as a result of encountering the pregnant woman and talking with Makoto about newborns. He wonders how Makoto feels about having children, or whether or not she ever thought about what it would be like to be a mother. They've never talked about anything like this before.

"Ren…" Makoto mutters quietly. She doesn't know why, but all of this talk is making her focus more and more on the fact that he's the first guy that's ever made her realize that she might want to have babies in the future, when she used to think she'd never let a man come that close to her.

"What's bothering you Makoto?" Ren asks her in a puzzled voice.

"Nothing at all." Makoto says with a sigh. There is no way she's going to tell him that she secretly desires to give birth to a black haired infant. He'd probably be beyond shocked if she admitted that secret fantasy to him.

They walk the rest of the way in silence, since Ren can easily sense that Makoto is feeling a bit uneasy about the extent at which they had discussed babies. He doesn't understand why she's suddenly tense, but it's obvious that she is.

Ren glances at her and tries to picture what she'd look like if she were pregnant. This is the first time he's ever imagined Makoto being pregnant with his child, and he's embarrassed as hell about it, even though they aren't discussing it and she isn't even looking at him.

_I want to marry her. It's like yin and yang. The two of us make up a whole, and we're connected. There's no other woman I would even consider as the mother of my children_.

What in the hell is he supposed to do now that he's had this blatant realization? Obviously, he can't just stay silent forever…or he might end up losing her with his procrastinating.

"You know, I could go for a coffee before I head back" Makoto says and just like that, they've changed their destination from the train station to LeBlanc. Ren is quite frustrated by the time they arrive.

_I'm such a dumb ass! Why didn't I figure all of this out much earlier? I've spent so long in this relationship acting a certain way, that I'm completely lost as to how I'm supposed to change it._

The more Ren thinks about it, the more he realizes that he did notice his attraction to her much earlier. After she explained her situation to him, he held no resentment towards her for charging into Kaneshiro's hideout, in fact he had vowed that he wouldn't let Kaneshiro wouldn't lay a finger on her for the remainder of his life.

_I've been kidding myself…denying my feelings…ignoring my attraction_

The woman occupying his thoughts, sits down in the cafe and looks out the window. She's not oblivious to Ren's inner torment. It's as easily identifiable as her own, and she also knows that if she focuses on him right now, he'll probably get irritated. So instead, she focuses on her own inner desires.

_A baby with brown hair hair and silver eyes would be the best in my opinion. I love his bright silver eyes. I love his hair too, but brown hair would be the proof that it would be his and my child._

_Eyes the color of the center of a knights armor…and I'm like a moth. He draws me in and no matter how illogical it may be, I can only keep fluttering closer to him._

_Huh. I have the heart of a poet_.

_It's like we belong together though! He is the man for me. How else could he have so easily taken over my heart, when I was so careful to keep it at bay from everyone?_

…

_If I said any of this stuff out loud, I'd want to punch myself. Stop thinking of Ren that way! He's not thinking of me that way, so why am I?_

_A bright silver eyed baby though…I want that so much!_

"Makoto." Ren finally says, and Makoto pulls herself out of her reverie. Neither of them notice that the bathroom doorknob is turning silently and the door is slowly and quietly opening.

"Hmm?" Makoto asks as she turns around to look at him, and Ren nervously steps towards the cafe bar and sits on the stool next to her.

"I've been thinking…about babies." Ren finally says softly to her. Makoto's mouth drops open, but she closes it quickly and crosses her arms to stare him directly in the eyes.

"You have my full attention." Makoto tells him, as she waits for him to continue.

"I want to be a father some day…" Ren says quietly, and they both flinch when they hear someones footsteps and see that Sojiro has stepped out the bathoom

_He fucking heard me._

"Not when we're open you don't!" Sojiro glared "I don't care what you get up to, but you sure as hell aren't doing any of that while I got customers coming in!"

"W-We're not!" Ren shouts but realizes there's no point in arguing this and begins to drag Makoto upstairs to his room

"I mean it!" Sojiro snaps

"I heard you!" Ren shouts back as they arrive in the attic. A bright red Makoto sits on his bed as Ren holds his face in his hands.

"He sure is loud." Makoto says with her eyes opened wide. Somehow she understands that Sojiro's behavior has something to do with the two of them, though she's not exactly certain why that is.

He walks over to sit next to Makoto again, and he's pissed off, since Sojiro's antics made him lose his train of thought.

"Where was I?" Ren mutters nervously.

"You want to be a father someday." Makoto says helpfully. There's no way she could forget that, since that statement had made the image of a black haired, silver eyed child float through her mind again. Ren blushes furiously.

"Right." Ren struggles to get out the next words. "What about you?" Ren whispers nervously. That question causes Makoto to blush. She's already decided that she won't share her secret fantasy with him, so why does he have to be asking this question right now?

"What do you mean?" Makoto asks, to delay the inevitable.

"Do you imagine having kids?" Ren asks, noticing her blushing. "You have, haven't you?" Ren asks, feeling confident that he is right.

"Maybe a little bit." Makoto says reluctantly. She's shocked to see Ren's expression look so relieved at first and then go to worried. She doesn't understand that at all.

"I'm glad you're not against the idea of it." Ren whispers to her, and Makoto's eyes widen to huge proportions.

"Wait a minute…are you talking about having kids with me?" Makoto's voice actually raises to a squeak. How is it even possible that they're having this discussion on a day when she can't get the vision of a black haired infant out of her head? Ren blushes and looks away from her.

"You're the only person I can imagine as the mother of my children." Ren finally growls out at her, before he awkwardly throws his arm around her and draws her close. Makoto gasps, but she doesn't pull away.

"Really?" Makoto asks in wonder. Of all of the ways she thought her afternoon might go, this was not it.

"Will Sae... allow you to marry as you desire?" Ren asks her, even though his face is still pink. Makoto gasps again, and she can't stop blushing either.

"I'd marry you even if she forbid from it." Makoto says in a choked up voice.

Ren takes the hand that's resting on her shoulder, and he moves it to her cheek, to tilt her head towards his, and she gives him a beautiful look of surprise when he meets her lips with his own. His fingers slowly caress her soft cheek and she brings a hand up to run it through his hair.

He nudges her mouth open and slips his tongue into her mouth and he lets his hand go from her cheek to her hair…it's so silky, and her skin is soft to the touch.

They find themselves lost in this kiss, and the first taste of the person that has been in their hearts for so long now. When they finally pull away and just look in each other's eyes, Makoto can feel the warmth of her love for him completely filling her body. She only has one thought, as she stares in wonder into his eyes.

_I want to be the mother of your children, Ren._


	47. Camping

_A whole month mouth without an update, wow, it's been a while since that happened..._

* * *

When Ann managed to successfully convince the group that they should camp in the mountains, get away, and enjoy themselves for a bit, she wondered if she might be able to maneuver herself into being able to sleep next to Ren.

She has no idea that he hasn't even given her, a second thought.

No, Ren is making sure he has everything and Makoto have everything they'll need, for their camping trip,

Yes, him and Makoto

_Makoto - I can't find a sleeping bag anywhere, do any of you have a spare?_

_Ren - I've tried everywhere but I can't find any either_

_Yusuke - It appears to be peak camping season I'm afraid_

_Futaba - Nowhere, huh?_

_Ryuji - Aw man, this sucks, we don't wanna leave you guys behind_

_Ren - I'll ask Sojiro if he has a spare_

Finally, Ren asks his father-figure, and Sojiro eyes furrow

"I think I have something you and Niijima-san can use!" Sojiro says, and Ren smiles in relief.

"Great, it's the last thing we need for our trip." Ren says, and Sojiro disappears from LeBlanc.

When he comes back, Ren only sees one sleeping bag.

"It's a bit old but it'll do the trick" Sojiro tells him

"We need another one." Ren told him, but Sojiro just smiles.

"This one comfortably fits two people" Sojiro tells him, and Ren turns bright red. "I've had some good times in this bad boy in my youth, hoo boy"

"I can't sleep in this with Makoto!" Ren argued back at the top of his lungs, and Sojiro snorts.

"Why not? It's not as if it hasn't been washed. If you're going to be like that, then you shouldn't eat at the counter either." Sojiro tells him with a smirk.

Futaba overhears him and nearly gags, while Ren's mouth drops open

"The counter?!" Futaba gasps in horror.

"That's not why! What makes you think Makoto would be okay with this?! She'd kick me out of that, and I'd shiver all night long!" Ren argues with Sojiro loudly enough that they don't realize that Makoto has entered LeBlanc and has quickly grasped the situation.

"Ren! I would never do such a thing to you! If there's only one, then I will happily share with you!" Makoto says, causing Ren to collapse to the floor while Sojiro laughs triumphantly.

"See! Niijima-san will share!" Sojiro proclaims happily.

_Does she even know what we're talking about?!_

* * *

"We've been walking for hours…don't you think we should find a place to camp?" Ryuji asks, and Ann looks towards the mountain. She had been hoping to make it to the slope before they stopped.

"Yeah, remember we have to walk this far back in two days, too." Ren says, and Makoto rolls her eyes.

"My legs aren't even tired." She says, and Ren grins.

_That's my Makoto…wait did I just think she's mine? Why in the hell would I think that?! Then again…we will be sharing a sleeping bag later…_

"Come on, I want to go a bit further." Ann pushes, and the guys relent. If Makoto and Ann aren't tired, none of them are going to admit to being ready to stop.

"Why did you bring so much stuff?" Ren asks, as he stares at the tent, sleeping bag, and clothes bag that Haru has strapped to her back.

"Because I don't like the idea of snakes or other creatures slithering over me as I sleep." Haru responds.

Ann shivers in disgust. She hadn't thought of that. She doesn't want anything slithering over her either.

"So tell me more about camping. We're looking for a spot to stop, but what will we do once that happens?" Futaba asks, and Yusuke lets out a soft laugh

"Well, we're going to live in the wild for a couple of nights." He says, and Futaba simply nods her head.

"So once we get there, we're just going to start living?" Futaba asks, trying to understand, and Ren laughs.

"I guess you could put it that way, but don't explain it that way. It sounds weird." Ren tells her, and Makoto raises an eyebrow before a sudden realization comes over her.

"Oh no! I didn't bring any pajamas!" Makoto exclaims suddenly, as she looks down at her tee-shirt and cargo pants. "Damn it!"

"It's cool, I brought a few pairs, you can borrow mine." Ren mutters to her. Makoto immediately gives him a look of relief

He doesn't intend to tell her now, that his pajamas consist of shorts, and a thin top since it's the summer. That's what makes it twice as embarrassing that they're sharing a damned sleeping bag. Makoto begins to pick up her pace and soon she's ahead of him

"And why do you only have one sleeping bag?" Ryuji asks Ren, getting a blush from the Phantom Thief

"It's all we had, and Makoto agreed to share." Ren mutters, even though Makoto is not in earshot.

"Are you serious?" Ryuji asks, and Ren blushes harder.

"Yeah, I was shocked too. I'm not even sure she knows that that means." Ren tells him in a low voice, and Haru who hears the whole thing, looks like she's just been shot in the heart.

_Ren-kun and Mako-chan are sleeping together?!_

* * *

It's dark outside, and the guys are trying to build a fire in the old fashioned way. Makoto's sitting against a tree, watching them try very hard, but if they're not having a whole lot of success.

Ren starts to get very frustrated, and Makoto just ignores him. She dozes against the tree, waiting for them to get the fire started.

Once the fire is roaring, Ren looks to the tree at Makoto who is sleeping. He wakes her up, and she looks down at the fire, before smiling.

"You finally got it going." Makoto says, and Ren nods his head.

"It took awhile, we should have just accepted your help." Ren tells her.

"Did Ryuji bring a house with him?" Makoto asks, as she stares down at his tent.

"Looks like it. Though I wouldn't expect anything less of him." Ren's says, as he shakes his head.

"I suppose. What do we do now?" Makoto asks curiously, and Ren gives her a look.

"Want to go for a walk?" He asks her, and she nods her head.

"Sure." Makoto says, and they both hop up. Ren collects a flashlight out of his bag. When Ann sees him grab it, she steps forward.

"What are you doing?" She asks with a smile, and he glances at her.

"I was about to go on a walk with Makoto." Ren says, and Ann gulps, before suddenly Haru tries to push her way in on that.

"Why don't we join you?" She asks, and Ryuji shakes his head.

"We have to keep an eye on the fire. I can always stay here, if you want to go." Ryuji says, and Yusuke nods.

"I also don't feel comfortable leaving the fire unattended." Yusuke says, and Ann and Haru looks back and forth. They don't want Ren and Makoto going off alone together, but they also doesn't want to be a third wheel.

"Just stay here." Ren says, before he nods his head at Makoto, to follow him.

Ren and Makoto walk off alone together, with Ann and Haru staring after them wistfully.

Ren and Makoto stay on their walk for so long, that Ann accepts Ryuji's offer to share his tent, and Yusuke and Futaba falls asleep by the fire.

Ren and Makoto are lost. It's so dark, and they've gotten themselves turned around.

"We can just use the Metaverse can't we?" Ren asks.

"I don't know." Makoto says, as they've made their way to the mountain slope where Ann originally wanted to stop to camp.

"I would say we can stay here, but we don't even have the sleeping bag, and I don't want to sleep in these clothes." Ren mutters, and Makoto grins at him.

"Give me a minute. I'll climb that tree, it should be high enough to see the fire, and we'll head back." Makoto says, and Ren shakes his head.

"Let me do it." He says, and Makoto nods her head.

"Be my guest." She tells him as Ren begins to clamber up. He quickly spots the camp, and goes back to the ground.

"We have to go that way, until we run into them." Ren says confidently, and Makoto grins.

"Come on." She says, and they hurry to make their way back to camp. It takes awhile, since they don't want to trip over branches or anything, but finally they spot the glow of the campfire.

Ren immediately pulls out their night clothes, and he throws his's pajamas at her. She catches them, and then looks up at him.

"There." He says, and Makoto looks at Yusuke and Futaba on the ground.

"Where are we supposed to change?" She asks, and he blushes.

"Out in the woods, it's like this." He mutters, before he pulls off his shirt, and turns so that his back is to her.

Makoto's mouth drops open, as he undresses down to his underwear, and throws on his sweatpants. A tee shirt is next, and then he stays put.

"You just changed in front of me." Makoto says in a low voice, and he blushes.

"Where else was I supposed to do that?" He asks, and Makoto frowns.

_Would he have done that if Ann or Haru were out? Where is she anyways? In Ryuji's tent? Did she change in front of the guys?_

"So what would I do if the others were awake?" Makoto asks, and Ren glances at her.

"I guess you could hide behind a tree or something." He says, and Makoto nods, before she walks over to a tree, to do just that.

While she's changing, Ren unrolls the ridiculously huge sleeping bag, and he wonders what she'll have to say, when she realizes just what their proximity will be.

She comes out from behind the tree, with her clothes folded in her arms. She's still trying to figure out why people would want to do this, rather than to stay in their cozy homes.

"Now what?" Makoto whispers loudly, and Ren blushes.

"Now we go to sleep." He says, before he gets inside the sleeping bag.

Makoto just stares at him.

"Where?" She asks him, and he rolls his eyes at her.

"Get in." He says, motioning the bag. She drops her clothes and turns bright red.

"What?" Makoto asks, in a near squeak.

"I'm too tired to argue. Get in." He tells her, and Makoto gawks at him.

"But wouldn't I be imposing on you?" Makoto asks, and he scoffs.

"You were the one who offered to share it with me, when Sojiro lent it to us." He reminds her, and Makoto looks like someone just gave her the shock of her life.

"You don't mind?" Makoto asks in a low voice, as she stares at the sleeping bag.

"It's fine." He tells her in a tight voice.

She picks up her clothes, and slowly walks over to him, before she gets into the bag with him. She lays on her back, completely rigid, staring up.

At first, she doesn't realize what a beautiful portrait that mother nature has put in front of her eyes. Ren turns on his back, and stares up, then he hears her sigh in awe.

"Wow, look at all of those stars." Makoto says softly, and Ren nods.

"Some people just love to sleep under the stars." He tells her, and Makoto smiles.

"It's beautiful." She agrees, and they're quiet as they stare up together.

After a long moment of silence, they see a shooting star, and Makoto points it out.

"Look at that!" She says excitedly.

"A shooting star. When you see one, you're supposed to make a wish." He tells her softly, and Makoto blushes.

_I wish Ren would hold me in his arms as we sleep tonight._

"Okay. I made a wish." Makoto whispers, and Ren nods.

"Don't tell anyone, or else it won't come true." He tells her, and Makoto nods. Not like she'd tell anyways.

"Ren…we're a bit too close to the fire, would you mind dragging us back a bit?" Makoto asks, and Ren doesn't say a word.

He simply gets out of the sleeping bag, and drags her back a few meters. He gets back into the sleeping bag, and within minutes, she's snoring. He is now cold though. She doesn't seem affected by it, even when he starts to shiver a bit.

Ren is about ready to get out of the sleeping bag, and pull them closer to the fire again, when Makoto suddenly turns and throws her leg over him. Her body is pressed up against his now, and the shivers quickly die down. How such a tiny girl can provide him with such an immense amount of body heat is a mystery to him, but he puts his arm around her, and pulls her closer.

The next day and night, Makoto is in a particularly happy mood, even though she doesn't tell anyone why. They had also been the last ones to wake up, so they didn't see the heartbroken expression on Ann or Haru's face, when she saw them cuddled in each other's arms as they slept. Yusuke, Ann, and Ryuji were all hunting for fruit when Ren and Makoto finally woke up.

The day was spent hiking. Ren shared a couple of candy bars with Makoto, that he'd brought along, which she had stared at with an expression of true happiness.

When the sun started to set, the guys started to gather sticks and large pieces of wood for the fire, while Ann changed in Ryuji's tent. Makoto sat against a tree, and dozed off.

She only half woke up, when Ren lifted her into his arms

"You have to get changed." Ren is urging her, but she's not really with it.

"Help me." Makoto mutters, and Ren blushes.

"You can change by yourself." He tells her, and he sets her on her feet, only to have her start to topple over. He catches her before she hits the ground.

He stares in amazement at her.

_She's still sleeping!_

He gives in, and helps her change, an activity he's sure he'll never forget, because of how it affected his body. He goes to sleep feeling a bit of pleasure and pain, at the same time.

When Makoto wakes up in the morning, she's even happier than she was the night before, and doesn't even question how she got into her pajamas.

_So you really can wish on a star, and have it come true! I think I loved this camping trip!_


	48. Third Wheel

_Another Sae centred one_

* * *

When Sae heard an echoing crash followed by an unmanly yelp from her immaculate kitchen, her first instinct was to close her eyes, return to her paperwork and pretend she was just imagining things.

But after a second somewhat yelp, Sae came to the conclusion that she didn't have an imagination, and it was best to see to whatever destruction was currently befalling her household.

Her silent and graceful feet swept her briskly the house until she appeared in front of the kitchen, catching none other than her sister and that boy of hers covered in white powder and brown batter.

It took decades of Niijima discipline not to slap a hand to his face.

"What…" Sae started slowly, still fighting the twitching in her left hand, "Are you doing?"

"Sis!" Makoto straightened up respectfully with a wooden spoon erect in her hand. "I'm sorry about the mess Sis! I promise we'll clean it up after we've finished."

Ren stood next to her with his arms crossed, a glare on his face, and a bowl on his head. "She started it." He muttered scathingly as whatever concoction they were making slid across the crease of his scowl and down his nose.

Again Sae fought her impulses and instead blinked. "Those statements do not answer my question."

"Ah," Makoto turned toward the counter and picked up a plate with small brown mounds. "We're making chocolate Sis. For Valentine's Day."

She stood still as Makoto excitedly approached her and offered the plate. "It's really good. Have one!"

Sae hesitated, wondering if chocolate was the cause of her kitchen being in turmoil, and the ridiculous state of the two in front of him, but her sister's unwavering smile won him over and Sae took up a piece of chocolate and placed it in her mouth.

It took decades of Niijima discipline not to smile down at her.

"Hm," was her only reply.

Makoto smiled again, acknowledging her grunt was that of acceptance.

Ren shrugged and took the bowl off his head before running a finger inside to lick the edges, licking his fingers. Makoto glared at him reproachfully and snatched the bowl away.

"Excuse me." Sae spoke in such a tone her appearance was anything but translucent. She decided to intrude before her sister littered the kitchen with chocolate and blood spatter. Which one stained worse, he did not know for sure. "Who are you even making chocolate for anyway?"

"Oh...ummm..." Makoto gulped, turning red in the process "It's...for..."

"Me" Ren suddenly cut in

"You..." Sae glared "You...? Why you?"

"So I can pay her back on White Day" Ren laughed, much to Sae's confusion

"White Day?"

Makoto's anger vanished immediately as she explained with gusto. "Oh well on White day, an exact month from now, the favor's returned and girls receive chocolates and gifts. Ren's already promised he'd take me out to dinner while we're here."

Sae did not miss the rosy color that spread beyond the chocolate stains on the boy's face. He did not appreciate what the blush indicated either. "Dinner?" she asked icily.

"What's wrong?" Makoto asked, observantly noticing her extreme distaste.

She glanced at the boy still looking awkward at was only apparent between the two of them. Sae turned with a flip of her hair, hiding her face completely. "Nothing. Enjoy yourselves." He said flatly.

"Oh Sis, would you rather we ate here?"

Her foot paused mid-step.

"Wait a minute." Ren scrambled. "Makoto—"

"I know a really good dish that Ren taught me." She said ignoring Ren's objections. "We can make it for you as thanks for using the kitchen and we could all spend Valentines together."

Slowly Sae turned. And slowly a smile crept onto her face. "That's a wonderful idea Makoto."

* * *

Ren was not a fan of Valentine's day. He'd spent many years abhorring his father for dressing up as cupid and aiming to hit him with real arrows, and he'd spent many hours in school abhorring those shrieky things he called classmates. He'd blame the girls, but Ryuji did a fair share of shrieking himself.

But compared to spending a dinner next to an annoyingly oblivious Makoto and across from the death rays sent by an annoyingly perceptive Sae, Ren was just about ready to swallow his pride

"Pass that red sauce please." Makoto asked suddenly. That fact that of all things, Makoto had wanted to make quesadillas for her Sister the lawyer, on Valentine's no less, only made the evening that much more significant and horrifying.

Ren held it out, but pulled back before she could grasp it. "Just make sure not to dump it on my head this time." He teased in an attempt to lighten the mood at the table.

Makoto smirked back at him and responded the way he had hoped. "That was entirely your fault. You wouldn't keep your nose out of the bowl. I merely helped you achieve your goals."

Ren snorted. "Yeah, that wasn't a bit overboard or anything." He glanced over at Sae poking her food. "Are lawyers supposed to play with their meals?" he joked. Makoto's elbow discreetly hit his ribs, but it was worth throwing a shot at Sae.

The lawyer ignored his chide and continued to poke. "I'm not aware of this cuisine, and I'm not accustomed to consume food to which I have no knowledge of."

"It's called a quesadilla Sis." Makoto supplied. "Ren taught me how to make it." She continued when Sae was brave enough to lift a bite to her mouth.

"It's Mexican food." Ren added. "Sojiro taught me and it's really easy, so I showed Makoto."

Sae finally took a bite and considered. "Messy…but the flavor's aren't detestable." She said finally.

Ren let out a snort even while Makoto seemed to be pleased. "She really knows how to complement the chef." He muttered.

Makoto pulled his sleeve and leaned towards his ear. "That means she really likes it." She whispered. "You should learn to read her face by now."

"Hm." Ren grunted as if he had heard a thing she said. But the way her shoulder grazed his, and the remaining smell of chocolate in her hair only reminded Ren of how much he wanted to pretend her sister wasn't there.

His eyes darted towards Sae, who actually did seem very attentive to his food, and then went back to Makoto.

"Hey how about we get some dessert after dinner's over?" he asked innocently.

Makoto lifted one shoulder and gave a small shake of her head. "That's alright, I'm actually tired of sweets today. All of that chocolate tasting can't be good for me."

Not the least bet crestfallen, Ren snorted for the second time during dinner. "You wouldn't be fat even if you ate all the chocolate we made."

A flattered and way too sparkly smile crossed Makoto's features. "Ah, so you're saying my figure is perfect?" she twittered.

"I dunno, guess I'll have to see what's underneath all those clothes later" Ren smiled, leaning into her ear

But that was when Ren remembered that Sae Niijima was still sitting across from them.

Actually not anymore, she was right beside him, ready to slit his throat with a spoon

_How _she thought she could slit his throat with a spoon, Ren didn't know, but _goddamn_ did she try

* * *

Makoto smiled and continued to slowly trudge their way through Shibuya. It was late now, and most of the city folk that were usually milling about during the day had gone home or gone to the bars. So inside the central street, only crickets and Ren's shuffling feet could be heard. He let out a pained wheeze and unconsciously nuzzled further into her support. Makoto could still smell the chocolate in his hair, and her smile only widened.

"It wasn't that bad right?" she asked quietly, not quite sure if Ren was still conscious and up for banter. "I really think you're growing on Sis."

"Yeah right. This time next year I'll be calling her Sis too." Ren groaned

Makoto paused for a beat and then picked up the pace. "Are you positive about the clinic?" She asked again. "I'm sure Takemi-san wouldn't say anything."

Ren groaned and leaned up slightly to look her in the eyes. "Nah. I'll admit I kind of deserved it." He kept staring at her and Makoto frowned before he looked away nervously. "Uh…sorry if I…about your…"

"Don't mention it." Makoto said firmly, turning away to hide her own red cheeks. "And I mean it. If you mention what you said about my…you'll much more to worry about."

"Ah." Ren agreed. "I'll make it up to you on White day. But dammit, don't invite your sister when I'm trying to ask you out okay?"

Makoto blinked. "Is that what you were trying to do?"

"Aw, shut up." Ren griped

Makoto turned her head away and bit her lip bashfully before squeezing his hand back. Their walk continued silently and though Ren began being less of a burden, his steps stronger as her healing completed, they didn't change positions or move away.

"In hindsight," Makoto said slowly. "That wasn't quite the way you're supposed spend Valentine's day is it?"

Ren moaned bitterly. "Not your best idea."

"Coming from you, that's difficult to hear." she laughed, letting their foreheads rest together. "Happy Valentine's Day Ren."

"Yeah yeah…you too Makoto."


	49. Heal

"You're an idiot."

Okay, so he could've said something a little nicer to the girl that was lying on the cold Momentos concrete, injured. But Ren Amamiya was beyond pissed and the time for kind words had passed.

As he leaned over his wounded ally, he couldn't help but wonder how quickly things had changed. Since when did Makoto Niijima run off alone to go battle a shadow? Since when had he become so unimportant enough that she no longer needed his help?

It had scared the hell out of him, really.

"Gee, thanks."

"You're welcome," he said bitterly. "Where does it hurt?"

"Nowhere!"

"Look at you. You probably can't even walk."

He cradled her in his arms, scooped her up bridal-style, and ignored her pounding fists aimed at his chest.

"You're making a big deal out of nothing. Put me down!"

"No." His statement was final. An unseen bruise on her leg was turning every color of the rainbow.

"What's your problem?"

Her weight was almost effortless as he walked down the empty tracks with Makoto riding shotgun. This was somewhat of a comfort to him. Carrying her made her more dependent on him; it was nice to feel useful for something.

"Are we…not a team anymore?"

She cleared her throat and considered the meaning behind his question. Of course they were for goodness sake. But wasn't she strong enough to handle a mere shadow on her own? Sure, she had gotten a little banged up in the process, but she had defeated that bastard as soon as Ren ran up to help. Makoto Niijima wasn't the weak, little girl she used to be. Things had changed.

"Of…of course we are."

"Then why did you go and fight alone? If we did it together, you probably would've gotten away without a scratch."

"I can handle a scratch."

He frowned at her and ran his thumb over a gash on her arm. "Does this look like a scratch to you?"

She was a big girl, despite what Ren believed. Honestly, she had been through much worse. There was just a couple cuts here and there that could use a Band-Aid, in her opinion. She said nothing.

He carried her to the entrance of Momentos in silence, setting her down before the exited the real world and got on a train. Takemi-san would know just what to do; she would patch her up nicely, and then Ren could continue being angry with her all he wanted. Only there was a problem when they finally got there. On the door of the clinic was a note with 'Closed' in big, black letters, and underneath;

_Emergency call out. Should be back around four_

Ren was tempted to snatch the note with one hand, ball it up, and throw it away before proceeding to take Makoto to his room. Gently, he sat her on his bed and collected the medical supplies that Sojiro kept just incase that he would need. When he came back, Makoto cocked her head to the side and stared at him in question.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to heal you."

Ren had been around enough to pick up the basics. He knew how medicines worked, and had took it upon himself to learn how to heal a wound once his Phantom Thief job had come into his life. It would be quite useful one day, he knew, and he guessed that day had come. Plus, taking her to a hospital and trying to explain why she looked like death would be far too difficult

"You sure you know what you're doing?"

"Makoto," he said patiently, as if she was a small child, "I'm properly certified to be able to handle a situation like this." He rummaged through the first-aid kit. "Now which one of these is a Band-Aid?"

She stared at him.

"That was a joke."

She wasn't laughing.

"Okay. Anyways…let's see what hurts. Take off your stockings"

"Excuse me?!" Makoto coughed

"I can't exactly check your legs if you have them on can I?" Ren sighed

Makoto grumbled as she reluctantly agreed. She reached under her skirt, but before she began to pull, she sent a glare towards Ren. He got the message and with a sigh and turned around. Makoto cleared her throat to inform him it was okay to turn back around. As she did, Makoto was averting his look as her stockings sat nearly folded beside her and her bare legs were in view

_"'Think this is the first time I've ever seen her bare legs..."_

He kneeled in front of her and took her tiny foot in his hands.

"Lemme know what's tender."

Gently and slowly, he ran his hands over her left foot before trailing over her calf, up the soft skin of her thigh, and to her-

"Ren!"

She was biting her lip the entire time, trying not to stop him, but she had reached her limit. Not that it was offensive or anything- no, it was far from that. Honestly, she was struggling to cope with the fact that Ren Amamiya was…turning her on. She couldn't help it, though. It was just the way he took his time to run his warm hands over every inch of her skin, leaving a tingly sensation in his trail. Plus, the way he kneeled in front of her in surrender was kind of attractive. Kind of- but nothing she couldn't resist.

He ran a thumb over a bruise on her upper thigh and she whimpered a little. "What? That hurt?"

No. But she nodded anyways, because she wouldn't dare explain why she was making noises that were unfamiliar even to her.

He unscrewed a jar and smoothed a clear balm on the supposedly hurt area. Then, he continued to travel further up her leg. If she didn't know any better, she'd think he was trying to cop a feel. That look on his face was a little too concentrated. But that couldn't be right- Ren wasn't attracted to her. He would never be like that.

Or would he? Ren had to hand it to himself- he sure was doing a damn good job of staying in control. This was unfamiliar territory- territory he had dreamed about once or twice in his entire lifetime, but that was something he would keep to himself. But who could blame him? He was a teenage boy, and teenage boys had needs. By god, she was so soft! Too bad that moan of hers wasn't one of acceptance, he was enjoying this more than he should've been.

"Woah now," she warned, grabbing his hands that were dangerously close to her bikini line. "You've gone far enough, don't you think?"

He was relieved that she had stopped him. "Alright."

He proceeded on checking the left leg from the toes to the top, focusing more on any bruises or cuts he saw than the feeling that this was the closest he'd ever get to touching her. And if he went further, he'd probably get kicked in the face by her every single day. Still, it wasn't fear that stopped him from thinking of Makoto that way. It was respect, of course. He most definitely respected her and her deliciously smooth skin.

"I'm still curious," he said idly while poking and squeezing her hips, "about what made you leave me behind."

He rested his hands on either side of her and looked up into her eyes. Yet, for some reason she could not meet them. Why was he making her feel so guilty about this? And why was he so concerned?

"I'm capable of handling a Shadow alone, you know."

"But I'd prefer if you didn't. If you're gonna get hurt, do it for something worthwhile."

"So saving lives isn't worthwhile anymore?"

He frowned at her stubbornness. "You know what I mean. Don't leave me behind again."

"What if I want to?" she scoffed. "You can't tell me how to fight."

That pissed him off again. And really, he didn't know why. There was something about her independence that really irked him. Maybe it was his nature- he hated being left out of things, especially ones that invited fighting. Maybe it was his hatred of stubbornness and defiance. Or maybe…maybe he couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt. Sure, she had been through worse, but if it was something he could've prevented, he would do it in a heartbeat. Leaving him behind was no longer an option. He would not allow it.

"Never again, Makoto," he warned her.

She rolled her eyes. "You're overre-"

"Never again."

His voice was burning with a passion she could not understand, and his eyes were alit with intense anger. He meant business – that part was clear – but why it was such a problem for him she could not comprehend. It wasn't like she had died- that'd be impossible, with her skill. She had been through much, much worse, too. His obsession with saving her was perplexing.

"Okay," she whispered. "Fine."

He took each arm and smeared a greenish medicine that resembled smashed grass on the deeper-looking wounds before wrapping gauze around both.

"You can't move your arms for at least 10 minutes," he explained to her. "The medicine needs time to sink into the wound, and if you move around, the blood and gauze will just disturb it."

She nodded and he continued up the sides of her ribcage before feeling her slightly wince. Underneath his palm was a section of blood-stained cotton. He grimaced at the fact that it was more serious than he thought things would be. It was quite bad, really. She had probably lost a lot of blood, already. Seeing Makoto hurt had never been easy, but trying to fix it seemed even worse.

"Makoto," he breathed, running his fingertips over the patch of soaked fabric. He was at loss. There were no words for this.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she attempted to soothe him.

"The hell it's not! Is your entire front like this?"

She shook her head, and he sighed. He knew what he had to do, and it wouldn't be easy.

"Makoto," he said gently, avoiding her eyes. "I'm going to have to, uh…take off your shirt."

She just kind of stared at him.

"Er, Makoto? I kind of need your permission to do this."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "Can't you just…lift half of my shirt?"

He noticed a smaller patch of red forming on her chest. She would lie and say there was nothing else, whether she realized there was or not. It was clear that the Shadow had gotten a good couple of swipes at the front of her.

"I have a feeling this isn't the only spot."

She swallowed dramatically and felt herself breaking into a cold sweat. Being shirtless in front of Ren…what would that be like? Would he stare? Would he like what he saw? Well, not that that mattered; she didn't care what he thought about her body. But then again, he had never commented on the matter. Instantly, she wished she had worn a more subtle bra that day, but something made her substitute her usual bra for something a little nicer.

"I'll just do it myself-"

"No! You can't move your arms!"

Damn. The fates sure were against her today. Well…this would be interesting.

"Okay," she whispered, defeated. "Fine."

He took a deep breath and tried to make it as subtle and professional as possible. However, it was quite difficult as his shaking fingers fumbled with the very first button. This couldn't be happening; this wasn't supposed to happen- not until he was happily married, or at least dating.

_'Be a man,' he encouraged himself. 'No big deal. Think about the blood, not the boobs.'_

Boobs? Did he really just say that in his head?

He gained a little (and I mean a little) confidence as he got done with the third one. But who would buy a shirt with so many? Was she trying to torture him? With each unfastening, more and more smooth, pale skin was revealed before he came to an odd piece of lacy black fabric that was incredibly unlike Makoto. What was that, and where the hell did she get it from?

Makoto, in the meanwhile, was having a panic attack. Her heart was pounding so hard, Ren probably could hear it- or feel it under his fingers. Those fingers…they would be the death of her. Millions upon millions of questions were running through her mind per millisecond. What was going through his mind right now? He couldn't possibly be enjoying this. And that ridiculous bra of hers- he was probably ready to puke.

When he had finally gotten to the end of those infernal buttons, he gently pushed the blouse off of her shoulders, brushing his hands over the bare skin. She sighed quietly and closed her eyes, unable to take his touch silently. He just felt so good that it was almost rediculous.

Now that her shirt was gone, all her mars and wounds were revealed. There was that deep gash on her upper abdomen, like he had correctly guessed. He gently wiped the blood away with a towel, careful not to hurt her, and applied the green medicine once more. After wrapping more gauze around her, he smeared the clear balm on the smaller cuts and scratches. She couldn't help but laugh a little at his tickling touch.

"What?"

She shook her head. "It tickles, that's all."

He smiled at the thought that there was still something to laugh about, despite her wounds.

"It reminds me of how my dad helped me when I was just a little kids. We didn't have much medicine, but we did our best. he'd kiss the wound and I'd say it tickled and he'd say that was magic making it better."

Ren could see her mind drifting away to memories of freedom and restriction, happiness and sorrow, and of hope.

"Now there's no one to do that for me..."

Makoto had always gotten help when she needed it, but with Sae's career, there's no one to tenderly care for her. There wasn't anyone to kiss her scratches when she fell, now that she thought about it. There had never been anyone to kiss away her tears.

"No one," she said quietly, avoiding his gaze.

Ren wanted to beat himself just for his actions inadvertently leading to this moment. How stupid could he be, to rekindle memories that obviously hurt? He knew that her life had lacked a loving figure, but he had never thought that she longed for such a thing. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to kiss her pain away, somehow.

On the top of her chest was a thin but deep gash where the Shadow had left his mark. He grabbed the green ointment again and gently applied it to the wound.

"Don't move," he gently reminded her as he stuck a patch over the spot.

She looked so sweet and sad as she watched him do his job. He wanted to erase that sadness, kiss it away, somehow. And then a strange idea popped into mind. One that seemed impossible, that was for sure, but one none the less. He just wanted to heal her soul. That was all. Surely, she wouldn't be offended.

He slowly stood up in front of her leaned his face into her neck.

"Ren," she whispered as his nose brushed against that tender skin under her chin, "what are you doing?"

"Giving you someone to believe in."

Softly, so softly, he pressed his lips over the patch that rested directly above her heart.

Her eyes slowly closed as his touch and she wanted to stop him, but she just couldn't. Her body and soul screamed 'no' against it. She could end this insanity with just a word, but even her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own as it sighed and parted in wonder. His warm lips brushed over her shoulder before he withdrew them (to her great displeasure) and backed away.

He took her silence as disapproval. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Shhh. It's okay."

By the look in her eyes, he knew that it was. Bitter regrets flew out of the window as he ran his eyes over her collarbone and up to her curious face.

"Your lip- it's cut."

Had he just noticed that? He should be more aware of her beauty from now on.

He got down on one knee and stroked a thumb over her pink cheek. She couldn't help but lean into his touch, despite her instinct that all of this was so wrong. Yet, her nerves thought otherwise as they reveled in his incredibly gentle touch. Ren believed he should kiss that pain away, too.

And so he did. Carefully testing his limits, he brushed his lips against hers before pressing against them. For some miracle, they actually responded back, moving against his in a new and unfamiliar way. Her taste was that of sweet candy and joy, and her lips were like rose petals, silky and perfect. It was then that he realized what he had been missing out on all along

Her.

She leaned her forehead against his when they finally broke apart. "It doesn't hurt anymore," she whispered, smiling serenely. "Thank you."

He had almost forgotten the motive behind his contact. "You're welcome."

He moved back to get a better look at her joyful face. He had no choice but to smile, because that was the kind of hold she had on him. Gathering up his medicines and supplies, he packed away the kit and proceeded to leave the room.

"Oh, and Makoto?" he called to her over his shoulder.

"Yes?"

"Nice bra."

_What an ass_

He quickly dodged a pillow aimed at his egotistical head. Laughing like a child as he scampered away


	50. Useless

_Chapter 50?! Whoa_

_Unfortunately__ though, this one's a bit short..._

* * *

"I wish you could've met him" Said the girl, Makoto, under the umbrella she was holding. She wanted to strike up conversation. For some reason the rain made her uncomfortable, and talking to him seemed to help.

"I wish I had the pleasure." His voice was muted against the spatter of drops on the cement, but he sounded regretful.

She gripped her own umbrella tighter and looked towards the top of the hill they were climbing. How many times had she made this walk? The trees didn't look familiar, the few buildings didn't either, but she supposed they were the last things on her mind when she came this way.

"How long have we been together?" She asked another question for the same reason as before.

Ren took a second to answer, as if I caught him off guard or confused him. "We met two years ago I believe. But it seems longer."

She grunted in agreement.

"We're almost there Ren."

He wanted to grab her hand. He didn't recognize any of the names. Each gravestone they passed could have belonged to them and he wouldn't know without Makoto to tell him.

She grabbed his forearm and slowed down in front of a headstone. Ren's heart sped up and he looked down.

**MIDORI NIIJIMA **-** KAZUMA NIIJIMA**

**1978-2002** \- **1975-2013**

BELOVED HUSBAND AND WIFE

ADORING PARENTS TO SAE AND MAKOTO

GONE TOO SOON, MISSED EVERYDAY

Ren imagined them, he'd only seen pictures of Makoto and Sae's parents laying around the Niijima home

She imagined the smiling faces in the picture. He imagined the long light hair of her Mother and the bright smile of her Father. They probably the kind of parents who baked and made her brush her teeth and told her stories before bed.

They were probably the center of Makoto's world.

Makoto tried to speak but she couldn't, her voice cracked. Ren didn't know and yet understood why at the same time. He held the umbrella over her head. She'd dropped hers and hadn't even noticed.

"This is them?" Ren asked, he looked at Makoto and who was now crouching down, he cursed the words that next left his mouth. "I know about your Dad...but what happened to your Mom?"

He could tell Makoto was uncomfortable. Makoto could tell he was trying to be as gentle as he could in drudging up the past. This was something she didn't talk about often.

"Cancer." She replied. "It came outta nowhere, and just like that, she was gone...nothing we could've done...I've thought I could have felt more useless than I did at that moment...but then...Dad..."

Ren's fists clenched unconsciously and guilt poured down on him. Why in gods name had he decided to bring that up?

"Hello sir, ma'am" Ren talked to the grave "We never met, I'm Ren Amamiya, it's a pleasure to meet you"

Makoto's eyes drooped down as Ren spoke to the headstone, Ren proceeded to place his hand on her shoulder

"Ren, don't..." Makoto muttered. Makoto's fist was still closed and the rain drenched her shaking body as her umbrella lay useless on the ground. "Please, just...don't..."

"No" He said directly to her "Being upset doesn't give you an excuse to stop being yourself! And you, Makoto Niijima, do not run away from your problems!"

She sat still and tried to absorb his words. She really wanted to believe him, but…

He leaned down closer though she could hear him perfectly from where he had been standing. "You think this is the first time you've ever felt sad or ashamed about something whether it was your fault or not?"

She blinked and said nothing. Instead she focused on the silver of her gaze. His tone was strict and hard, but her eyes belayed something softer.

"But" Ren squatted closer and her features softened slightly. "Even before I met you, you've been the kind of person who goes out of her way to make things right. You help people. You protect people. You don't give up. Ever. So no, Makoto Niijima, you are _not _useless"

...

"I…I never said I was giving up." She argued weakly.

He stared at her a few seconds longer and gave her time to let his words sink in. Ren knew her, better than she probably knew herself. If he trusted her, if he stuck by her…

Then she couldn't have been completely useless.

Her face must have given away her growing confidence because she stood up and held her hand out to him.

He hesitated for a second before grabbing her tiny hand in his and she let him pull her up.

"Sir, Ma'am, I can tell you right now, Makoto is the most wonderful person I've ever met" Ren said to the grave "She upholds both of your morals and goes out of her way to help everyone"

Makoto smirked up at him. "And him, Mom, Dad...he's wonderful."

In-between the splashing drops of the rain, Ren kept still and my eyes on the sky as he pulled Makoto's head onto his chest.

"I'll look after her" Ren spoke to names on the stone "You don't have to worry anymore"

He saw the glow and felt the warmth inside him, and felt his hands softly rubbing her arm

"Thank you." Her voice was soft, but her words resonated. "Thank you for being with me."

The rain stopped as Makoto picked up the umbrella and settled it over the two of them. She looked up at him as he stopped the rain

Ren stopped the rain.


End file.
